Love is Unconscious
by cr8vgrl
Summary: She'd gone and done the one thing she'd never expected to do. She'd fallen in love with THE Jason Grey. Did he love her in return? Who really knew? The whole time she'd known him, he'd been in a coma.
1. Alone

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!! (But you already knew that, right? LOL!)**

The crowds were screaming. Their cries echoed off the stadium walls, ricocheting back to Jason Grey's ears as he strummed his guitar, his fingers flying over the frets in time to the beat he could barely hear. He stared out into the blackness of the venue, only able to see the faces of the people, mostly girls, in the first few rows. The flashes from the cameras, cell phones, and glow sticks mingled with the overwhelming pitch of the screams to assure Jason that every seat had indeed been sold out tonight. He smiled, happy to be onstage once again. Recording was always enjoyable, maybe even fun, but the real joy was getting on a stage every night and letting loose.

"What's going on, Los Angeles?!" Shane, his brother, boomed through the microphone as the song ended, walking to the middle of the stage. He had long ago perfected that swagger that could only be his, and Jason almost envied him for it.

Girls responded to the rhetorical question with shrill screams of excitement. Why wouldn't they? One of America's cutest guys was walking right towards them! Jason cast a sympathetic look towards his younger brother, Nate, knowing that the screams were undoubtedly bothering his "perfect pitch" hearing. Sure enough, the younger boy had pasted a smile on his face and was gripping his guitar a little tighter than absolutely necessary in an effort not to grimace.

"We have a new song for you," Shane informed the crowd, continuing to speak to the girls in the first few rows with his trademark smirk. The cheers rose again and Shane had to wait for the screams to die down so that he could be heard throughout the venue. "It was written by my brother, Jason Grey!" Shane swept his hand out, motioning to where Jason stood, guitar and water bottle in hand.

This time, the screams were not as loud, the sea of people not bobbing up and down as much as they jumped in excitement. Jason fought against his emotions, desperate to keep his face from showing the disappointment he felt. Like his brother, Jason pasted on a smile, nodding to each girl that he could see that was clapping and cheering for him. Each one that smiled back gave him a little more strength to play the song that he had written. Each girl that screamed her approval gave him a little more courage to sing his part.

By the time the song had ended, Jason felt that he was, once more, on top of the world. What did it matter if the screams that followed his song didn't pierce through his earplugs like Shane's songs always did? What did it matter that Nate played more instruments than he could? What did it matter that most of the girls were drawn like magnets to Shane and not him? He, Jason, had his own talents, and they were important, necessary even, to the band. He lifted his chin slightly, confidence having returned once more, and played on as the music morphed into another one of Shane's hits.

There was no feeling in the world as euphoric as being onstage and hearing the bass vibrations pounding through you, more pronounced than your own heartbeat. For Jason, in the moments that he was onstage, the bass _was _his heartbeat. He closed his eyes, letting his body relax and his mind take control. The tension released from his shoulders and spine, allowing him to enjoy himself a little more.

By the time the concert ended, with another rendition of the pyrotechnics that he loved to engineer, Jason was exhausted, but happy. He handed his guitar off to someone waiting nearby, nodding and thanking him as he walked past. Shane caught up to him, slapping him hard on the back. "Good job out there," he told Jason. "The crowd really liked your song!"

"Yeah," Jason muttered, "because you sang it." But Shane never heard him because at that moment, his girlfriend, Mitchie, slipped backstage and was immediately whisked into her boyfriend's arms.

When Shane finished hugging her, he turned back to his brother, actually focusing on him for a moment. "Did you say something?" he asked.

Jason just smiled and shook his head. "Nope," he said.

Shane frowned. "Oh," he said. "I thought you said something."

Jason shook his head. "It must be the ringing in your ears from all that screaming. You didn't take your earplugs out again, did you?"

The guilty look on Shane's face showed that he had. He claimed that he loved to hear the fans' responses without any barriers sometimes, but Jason had a sneaking suspicion that he really loved to hear all the "I love you" screams aimed at him.

Shane brushed off the question and asked instead, "You're coming to the after party, aren't you?" When Jason appeared about ready to beg off going again, Shane grabbed his arm. "You've got to come!" he wheedled. "Just for a little while. Please?"

"Shane, I'm tired," Jason replied with a sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. He knew that his brother was going to win, and his brother knew that he was going to win. It was just a matter of how much Shane would have to push before he actually won.

"Please?" Shane begged again.

Jason sighed again and Shane knew that he had won yet again. His brother must be tired if he hadn't put up more of a fuss than that! However, Shane was not about to question his good fortune. His brother needed to get out more, to see the world and to be seen, and he was going to thrust him into society as many times as he could.

"I'm taking my own car, though," Jason told Shane wearily.

"Fine," Shane agreed sourly, knowing that agreeing to this condition was opening the door for his brother to slip away from the party whenever he wanted, but then again, beggars couldn't be choosers, now could they?

"Good," Mitchie said, speaking for the first time since she had come backstage. She never liked watching the two boys argue, but she was in a rather precarious situation. She was the girlfriend of one and the good friend of the other. There was no way that she could help one out without offending the other, so night after night she watched them argue, and she carefully extracted them when they were finished. It was just one of those things that couldn't be helped.

* * *

The party was in full, chaotic swing when the Grey boys arrived with their dates. Nate and his girlfriend immediately headed over to an empty table against the wall and sat down, neither one of them really preferring to dance. They were the quiet ones, the dreamers, and they preferred to plot and plan rather than to actually thrust themselves into the limelight. Shane pulled Mitchie onto the dance floor, already crowded with gyrating couples, before she had a chance to say anything to Jason. And as for Jason, he was left standing in the entryway, alone once again.

Not in the mood to dance, and lacking a partner, Jason slowly made his way over to an empty table. With the lights from the strobes sporadically flashing across the polished table surface in red, green, yellow, and blue, Jason looked at the empty chair across from him. Then, he looked around at the rest of the table scattered around the exterior of the floor, noticing that every table had a couple sitting at it, laughing and talking or simply catching their breaths after their turn on the floor.

He closed his eyes, letting himself imagine that he was not alone. He had a cute girl sitting across from him, smiling at him like he was the only guy in the room. When he opened his eyes, Jason nearly jumped out of his chair. Mitchie sat in front of him, her chin in her hands, looking slightly worried. Obviously, more time had passed than he had thought.

"Sorry," she apologized bashfully. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Jason shook his head, feeling his heart slowly returning to normal speed. "You just surprised me," he told her. "I was just thinking about having a pretty girl sitting in that seat, and when I opened my eyes, my imaginations came to life. I should close my eyes more often."

Mitchie blushed at the compliment but caught the wistful tone in her friend's voice. The music changed and she raised her voice so that she could be heard above the noise of the room. "Your time will come," she promised him, patting his hand affectionately.

Jason shrugged. "Maybe," he said, sounding unconvinced. He pushed back his chair and stood up. I think I'm going to go," he told his friend.

Mitchie frowned, standing as well. "But you just got here," she protested, and Jason could tell that she was doubting her crowd-encompassing skills at keeping everyone happy and together.

"It's not you," Jason assured her, trying to silently tell her that he was grateful for her company but that as wonderful as it was, it wasn't enough to keep him in this party atmosphere any longer.

"Mitchie!" someone called. Both friends turned to find Shane waving at them from across the room. He was surrounded by a group of people who all turned in Jason and Mitchie's direction to study Mitchie.

"You'd better go," Jason told her, knowing that whoever the people were, it was in Mitchie's best interest that she go and meet them.

"But-!" she started to protest.

"Mitchie!" Shane called again, unable to hear their conversation over the roar of the room.

Jason smiled, touching his friend's back and giving her a slight push towards the crowd. "I'll be fine, Mitch," he told her. "Don't worry about me."

Reluctantly, Mitchie walked over to the group, glancing over her shoulder just in time to see Jason slip out the door, disappearing into the darkness of the night. She shook her head sadly. "Poor Jason," she whispered, knowing that no one else could hear her, and then turned to greet the new people in Shane's little group with her most famous smile.

Jason trudged out to his car, pulling the keys out of his pocket. How different, and rather peaceful, the night felt without the incessant pounding of the pop and rock music blaring in his ears. The night seemed calm, and definitely less colorful now that he was outside. He took in a deep breath of cold, clean air and sighed again, unlocking the door of his car and sliding into the driver's seat, feeling slightly lethargic. Why had he agreed to this party?

"_Because you hoped that it would be different,"_ a small voice inside his tired head whispered to him. _"You thought you might actually find someone at the party, just like you always hope you will."_

"And I failed again," he added out loud, revving the engine.

He pulled out of the crowded parking lot and merged onto the busy streets of Los Angeles, heading for the nearest freeway. It was his non-stop ticket to his hotel room, bed, and a good night's sleep so that he could sleep off the loneliness that he once again felt.

With his mind occupied, Jason never saw the car to his left that ran the stop sign. He only felt the jarring thud and heard the cacophonous squeals and crunches his car made in protest. His head hit the window with a sharp crack and the world spun upside down so quickly that the rotation was blurred in Jason's mind.

The car continued to roll, and Jason felt himself fade in and out of consciousness. He barely recognized that his seatbelt was choking him before a small part of his brain drew his attention to the window for a split second. There was a red smear on it, ghosting over the glass, and Jason realized that it was blood, _his_ blood. It was almost a relief when the car ended its rotation by slamming down on its hood, knocking Jason into a blissful blackness with only the sound of breaking glass as the closing melody.

**A/N: Well? Did you guys like it? It struck me that there are very few fics about Jason (Kevin) and he seems to get left out a lot. :( That's depressing for me so I figured that I'd write this and see what you think. Yes, Jason's character is OOC. He's not a birdbrain, so there's no need for a birdhouse. ;) Please review, and I hope you like it! Quick sidenote: If any of you have ever seen the movie Just Like Heaven, you'll find some similarities, but this story is NOT a crossover. It has nothing, really, to do with that movie.  
**


	2. Utterly Alone

Jessie Hinmoor obediently followed the social worker out of the front door, closing the door behind her quietly. Every fiber in her body wanted to slam the large chunk of wood as hard as she could, but she remained silent. There was no reason to bring more anger onto her tiny frame. She was having trouble handling what she already had.

She slung her backpack, containing everything she owned, onto her back and walked down the walkway leading to the black car in front of the house. Why did every car she ever stepped into have to be as black as the ink that signed her name away every so often. Why did it have to be as black as the cloaks that everyone wore for the funeral when they had buried her parents, and why did it have to be the one color that she feared?

She glanced back over her shoulder to look at the house, a little two-story house that could have been found in a storybook. The bright paint, brickwork, and the large windows had given Jessie hope when she had first come to this home, but now, the American Dream house was shutting her out once again. She had thought that this might be the one. She had thought that this might actually be her home. Stupid girl. She'd been wrong yet again.

"In here," said the social worker, whose name Jessie had already forgot, as he opened the door to the black car and motioned for Jessie to step into it.

"Thank you," Jessie said softly, but the man didn't respond. He simply shut the door as soon as she pulled both long legs into his car and strode quickly to the other side. Jessie put her head down and bit her lip. She always hated moving because no matter what social worker came to get her, they always made it perfectly clear that she was simply a stop along their way, a waste of their time.

She had always tried to be polite. Her parents had taught her manners right along with how to eat mashed up carrots and peas from her highchair. Everyone at the American Dream house had seemed to like her, and Jessie had thought that her manners might overshadow her tendency to lapse into long periods of silence. No one but this last family had been comfortable with her silence. Every other family had claimed that it was "eerie" and "unnatural," saying that she wasn't normal at all.

Every foster family receives money for the children they take on, and Jessie had tried her hardest to bring herself out of her silences, especially when some members of certain households had started to avoid her, but even the money hadn't been enough for them to keep her. So now, for the sixth time, she was moving again, and if she was honest with herself, she would admit that it wasn't because of the silences that this family was sending her off. It was because of that night, almost a month ago, when everything had gone horribly wrong.

She felt like an object. As soon as one family felt that they could handle her no longer, she would go back on Foster Kid eBay and wait for the next family to take a trial run with her. No matter what she did, no family wanted to keep her too long, and now, willing foster homes were getting scarcer. No one seemed to be in the market for a quiet seventeen-year-old with hidden talents that she kept locked away, much like her emotions.

"Where am I going this time?" Jessie asked, trying to keep the weariness out of her voice. She refused to sound like some put-upon kid that lived and breathed to make trouble.

The driver glanced at Jessie out of the corner of his eye, trying to judge her question. "The Blake family," he told her. "They have three other foster kids and one older daughter."

Great. She'd be one of five and probably easily overlooked. Jessie's hands tightened into fists and she sat back against the leather seat, letting her eyes drift out the window. She could feel another quiet spell coming on.

"Their daughter works at the hospital in town," the social worker told her, his hands tightening nervously over the steering wheel as he glanced back at her.

Jessie could almost swear that people had some sort of sensor that went off inside their heads, telling them to start a conversation just when she started to lapse into silence. She closed her eyes, willing herself to say something, _anything_. "Fascinating," she murmured, and felt herself cringe. She had not meant to come across as rude. She smiled at the driver to show that she meant no harm and then turned back to the window, storing the information in the back of her mind for later use.

To her dismay, and the social worker's obvious relief, the car soon turned into a residential area and Jessie knew that she was almost there. The house soon appeared, a squished two-story house with only two windows in the front. A sign on the fence warned strangers away from the dog they kept there, and Jessie felt her heart give a little squeeze of panic. The house looked like something from a horror film.

The social worker obviously had some of the same thoughts, for his eyebrows came together slightly before he opened his door and strode to the other side of the car to help her out. When he opened the door, Jessie took a deep breath. She looked up at the worker, realizing that he was waiting for her to say something, and she said, "I'm ready." The way she said it sounded tired, as though she was long past fighting for anything, and the calm way she voiced those words made the social worker glance at her again with a frown.

_"They've said she was an odd one,"_ he thought to himself as he watched the thin girl slide out of the car and grab her backpack. _"Perhaps they've been right all along. I'll be glad when she's no longer in my care. She's too quiet. It's weird."_

Together, Jessie and the social worker strode to the front door, but Jessie could barely force her long legs to carry her up the porch steps, much less get her fingers to ring the rusty doorbell, so the social worker rang it for her. There was a screech inside, and Jessie felt her heart hammering harder than it usually did outside a new home. What was this going to be like for her?

The door opened and a tired woman poked her head out. "Yes?" she said sharply, as though they were taking up a valuable block of her day simply by standing on her termite-infested porch and ringing her doorbell.

"This is Jessie Hinmoor," said the social worker, seeming to be almost put at ease now that he was around someone else. What was it about her silence that made people so leery of her? It wasn't as though she was hurting anyone by it!

The woman eyed her up and down. "Oh," she said, and Jessie was taken back by her tone. She sounded almost disappointed as she gazed at her new foster ward. "You'd better come in then," she said stiffly, holding the door open a little further. "Thanks for dropping her off," she added to the social worker.

He nodded and turned away. "Goodbye!" he called hurriedly, walking as quickly as decorum would allow him to. He was barely in his car before he was revving the engine and pulling away, leaving Jessie completely alone.

Jessie closed her eyes for a moment, holding back the tears. She could do this. Only a little while longer and she wouldn't have to be put in another foster home. Just a little longer and she could move out and move on with her own life. But for now, there was a new home to be discovered. As the woman, Mrs. Blake, led her upstairs, Jessie half expected to be led into an attic were she would receive only a little trundle bed. It wasn't that bad. _It was worse._

"You'll be sharing a room with my daughter," the woman told her. "She's the closest one to your age anyways. She works at the hospital, and you'll have to go with her after school because I'm not home and I don't want you home alone." Mrs. Blake looked evenly at Jessie, her tone clearly implying, _"I don't trust you to be alone in my house."_

"Great," Jessie said, but she smiled to show the woman that she was at least trying to be polite.

"I'll leave you to unpack," Mrs. Blake said and turned swiftly out the door, leaving it open behind her.

Jessie could feel her spirits sinking rapidly. This was going to be one of _those_ houses, the ones where no one actually cared much about you as long as you left them alone and didn't create too much trouble for them. "Outstanding," she muttered, knowing that she was by herself.

It didn't take long for her to unpack since all she had was in her backpack. She neatly folded every item and placed them in the little nightstand she had been given, more for something to do that anything else. She stepped out of the room and headed downstairs, hoping, yet seriously doubting, that any of the other family members were any better than their mother.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Jessie had to twist to the side in order to avoid the two boys that went barreling past her, ignoring her completely as one threatened to rip apart the other. Mrs. Blake appeared, chasing after the boys with an expression that meant trouble for them, and spotted Jessie as she was passing. "Stir the soup," she told Jessie and shoved the ladle into the girl's hands before yelling, "You two get down here right now!" There was no response, so she started up the stairs after them, huffing as she went and muttering something under her breath that sounded murderous.

Jessie stood there for a moment, remnants of the soup dripping down from the ladle, before she made her way through the rest of the house to find the kitchen. Once there, she made her way over to the stove, relatively clean considering what Jessie had seen of the house, and began to stir the soup. She heard a cry from upstairs, followed by rapid howling that Jessie could not understand, and more scurrying.

She bent her head over the soup and blinked, surprised when a tear fell into the mixture. She hadn't cried in a very long time, but it seemed that utter loneliness had finally taken a toll on her. She bit her lip, determined not to start to cry now, and stirred the soup with more force, almost sloshing some of the contents out of the pot. Surely no one would notice the extra bit of salt that the soup now contained.

_"I'm alone,"_ was all that Jessie could think as she brushed her eyes dry stubbornly. _"I'm alone."_

**A/N: Did you like it? I hope so! Thank you guys so much for the awesome first chapter reviews. I was so tickled to death that I had to write the next chapter!! :D Please keep it up! I love hearing from you guys! ;)  
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	3. Unwanted

Jessie glanced carefully at the object in front of her, eying it to see whether it was safe or not. Now, most people, she knew, did _not_ eye a school bus this way, but in her case, you could never be too cautious. She realized that some people were staring at her so she quickly ducked her head down and mounted the steps.

She took a seat close to the front, wary of not only the prying eyes, but also of the occasional outstretched foot meant to trip her. She avoided them silently, but was relieved when she finally made it to her seat. It was by the window, she noticed, and the connection with the outside world made her breathe a little easier as the bus lurched forward and the noise in the back of the bus picked up.

A wad of paper whizzed by her ear and struck its target, the boy in front of her. He turned around and glared at her, but she just shrugged her shoulders to indicate that it wasn't her that had thrown it at him. Why did people always have to make it seem like her fault?

The bus rumbled along, creaking and groaning as though it would break down at any moment. Jessie breathed deeply, glad to have gotten out of the Blake house for a day, even if that "outing" simply meant going to school. The bus lumbered around a corner and Jessie saw the hospital for the first time. The sight of it brought a sense of unease to her.

The night had not been terrible, but it had not gone well. Jessie's previous assessment of her new home had been correct: she was going to be ignored. And when the Blake's daughter, Diana, had come home, she had not been pleased.

"I'm not a babysitter!" she had whined, glancing from her parents to Jessie so fast that Jessie feared she might cause herself whiplash. "Why can't she just stay at school or something?"

Jessie could, even now, remember the petulant look that had been written across Mrs. Blake's face as she had glanced from her angry daughter to her new, teenaged charge. She could even remember Mr. Blake's sigh as he had said, always the peacemaker it seemed, "I'm sorry, Di, but that's the way it has to be."

Diana had not acted her twenty-three years when she had turned angrily away from her parents and had stomped upstairs, muttering something about foster kids under her breath. In that moment, Jessie had felt her heart go out in sympathy for all of Diana's patients at the hospital, for she highly doubted that her new babysitter's bedside manners were much different than the ones that were shining forth at that moment.

Bedtime had not been any easier. Diana seemed to have decided that Jessie was out to ruin her life, so she had made a point to ruin Jessie's life right along with hers. She had occupied the bathroom for so long that Jessie finally slipped downstairs to wash her face and brush her teeth in the kitchen sink. Jessie had leaned against the counter, staring out of the window above the kitchen sink and wishing that she could be anywhere other than where she was at the moment.

A sharp jolt drew Jessie rudely back to the present and she realized that the bus had stopped and that everyone was standing and shuffling to get out. She also stood, swinging her backpack over her shoulder in a practiced motion. No longer filled with all her clothes, her backpack had been filled with the basic, absolutely necessary school supplies she would need to start the new semester and nothing more.

"Sorry," Jessie muttered as she accidentally bumped another student.

The boy turned and opened his mouth and it appeared to Jessie that he was going to say something nasty, but he looked at her face and shook his head slightly, apparently seeing something there that made him change his mind. "It's fine," he told her.

She followed everyone else into school, stopping in the school office where she was supposed to get all her directions and the information about the school. Her locker was easy to find; getting into it was harder. She tried three times before the combination finally worked, opening with a dull click that was muffled by someone slamming their locker above her head. Jessie looked up, startled, but the senior was already walking away, pleased with himself for scaring her.

Her eyes narrowed, but she refused to act on her violent thoughts. Slowly, her fists relaxed and she headed to class.

By the time school actually ended, Jessie was tired. She had no control over when her quiet spells came on, and there had been two today during class. Thankfully, no one had asked her any questions and she had only had to fight to appear as though she was actually listening.

When the last bell rang, Jessie was one of the first people out of the school. Once she'd reached the street corner, she slowed her brisk trot to a walk. She didn't want to appear anxious, or even excited to be on her way to the hospital. Diana would only misinterpret her enthusiasm in the wrong way.

So, Jessie took her time on the way to the hospital, spending time looking around her new surroundings. Hopefully, they wouldn't get rid of her before her birthday, so she would need to know where she lived and what she lived around.

The hospital came into view far too quickly, and Jessie skirted around the Emergency Room entrance so that she could get into the regular front door. The receptionist there directed her to the fourth floor and into the left wing.

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, Jessie felt her senses going into overload. Nurses were scurrying around everywhere, some actually running down the halls. The nurses' station in the middle of the corridors of rooms was a bustle of activity between people answering phones and pages and others demanding the paperwork on some patient.

Jessie spotted Diana and headed toward her, but the moment Diana caught sight of her, she said something to the matronly nurse next to her and whirled away. Not knowing what to do, Jessie just stood there, feeling slightly hurt.

The nurse stepped forward with a wide, kind smile that seemed encouraging. "You must be Jessie," she said softly. "Diana's told me a lot about you."

"_I'm sure she has,"_ thought Jessie wryly, but then reminded herself that this woman seemed at least to be _trying_ to be nice, something that no one had done in a very long time. So, she smiled politely and said, "I hope it wasn't all bad."

The smile wavered for a moment and Jessie saw that it had indeed been all bad. The nurse, however, quickly shook that off and she said, "I believe in judging people for what they are when you see them, not a second-hand account." She looked Jessie up and down. "And I see a very nice young lady in front of me."

Jessie blushed and ducked her head, embarrassed. No one but her parents had called her "nice," let alone "young lady." "Thank you," she said softly, looking up once more at the nurse.

Her eyes must have betrayed something, or the nurse was just one of those people blessed with a heightened sense of intuition, for she said, "My name's Mrs. Nash. Diana tells me that you'll be here every day after school, so would you like to help me with something?"

It was exactly what Jessie wanted. She nodded, glad to think that she could be useful instead of simply stuck in a corner to the end of the shift. "I'd like that very much," she told Mrs. Nash sincerely.

The nurse smiled as though she knew a secret that no one else did. "Excellent," she said, holding out her hand for Jessie to take. "I have just the job for you."

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!! Please review! I love hearing from you! :D**


	4. Brought Together

Jessie followed Mrs. Nash down the hall, unsure as to what exactly she had gotten herself into. Surely she wouldn't have to deal with blood, right? Wasn't that against hospital policy? "Where are we going?" she finally asked.

Mrs. Nash shot her a smile from over her shoulder and said, "We're going to a separate wing. There's a special patient I think you should meet."

They exited the room, meeting fewer and fewer people as they left the wing. Their shoes made quiet tapping sounds as they became the only people in the hall. Mrs. Nash led Jessie through another wing and turned towards a door at the end of the hall, beckoning for Jessie to follow her. "Don't worry," she assured Jessie, quelling any worries that the girl might have. "It's fine."

Jessie nodded and followed the nurse inside, her eyes widening when she stepped fully into the room. State of the art equipment covered every inch of the room from the monitors to the bed itself. Light filtered in from large, open windows, and Jessie could see for quite a long ways through their polished glass. She turned to look at the patient, expecting him or her to be looking at her, wondering why she had suddenly turned up in their room, but then she stopped.

Lying there, covered in two blankets, was a young man, perhaps a couple years older than Jessie herself. His hair was a rich, chestnut color and as curly as could be. His eyes were closed and his breathing was regulated by an oxygen hose connected to his nose. The monitor proclaimed that his heart was beating at a rather low, but steady pace, and aside from a few scratches on his face and arms, Jessie could not see an ailment that would have landed him in the hospital.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, turning to Mrs. Nash, who seemed to be waiting expectantly, for she didn't answer for a moment.

"Do you not know who he is?" Mrs. Nash asked her, sounding slightly surprised.

Jessie turned and peered at the young man again. "No," she told the nurse. "Should I?"

Mrs. Nash smiled broadly and nodded. "This is Jason Grey. You've heard of the Connect 3 band, right?"

Jessie frowned and then blushed bright red. "I'm sure Diana told you that I'm a foster child," she prefaced. "I've never really watched much TV and I don't buy CDs because they tend to break from one house to the other." She shrugged. "Sorry."

Mrs. Nash glanced over her face for a moment, and Jessie felt that she was once again being studied. "Perhaps, then," she told Jessie, "you'll be the best thing for him." She motioned for Jessie to come sit next to her on two of the plentiful, plush chairs scattered around the room. "I'll tell you a little bit about him, and then I have to get back to work."

"Okay," said Jessie softly.

Mrs. Nash glanced at the Jason and said, "Connect 3 is a group of three brothers that are pretty popular with the teenage girls," she said. "There's Nate, Shane, and then there's Jason. He's the oldest, and he's the one that gets the least credit." She paused, making sure that Jessie was following her, and then continued on. "Two months ago, Jason was driving home from an after party and was hit by another car. He's been in a coma ever since, and almost everyone's given up on him. No one expects him to come out of it anymore." Mrs. Nash sighed. "Poor boy. For some reason, he doesn't _want_ to come out of it." She turned and smiled at Jessie. "That's where you come in."

Jessie, having taken in all the information, frowned. "How?" she asked. She was no one special. She wasn't even normal, according to a growing consensus of people. She glanced at Jason and felt her heart immediately go out to him. Looking at his face and studying it for the first time, she began to understand. She knew what it felt like to feel that you're not important. She knew what it felt like to want to go to sleep and to never wake up. She also knew what it felt like to have everyone you knew give up on you. It hurt.

Mrs. Nash waited, watching as Jessie slowly began to realize why she had been brought here. A small smile played at the corner of her lips as she watched a light began to dawn in Jessie's eyes. When the girl looked at her once more, Mrs. Nash told her, "Because you're perfect for him."

"But I don't know what to do," Jessie told her softly, and the tone of her voice conveyed desperation, like she wanted to help, but had no idea how.

Mrs. Nash took Jessie's hand and led her over to the bed, pulling a chair behind her. She set the chair next to the bed and said, "Have a seat." Jessie obeyed. "Take his hand." Jessie reached out, and her hand touched Jason's. She curled her slim fingers around his and looked up at Mrs. Nash, ready for further instructions. "Now just talk to him," Mrs. Nash told her. "He can hear everything you say, and doctors have proven that people sometimes come out of comas because of someone caring enough." She winked at Jessie. "I'm sure you can do that, right?"

Jessie stiffened for a moment, fear making her uneasy. "But I have quiet spells," she told the nurse worriedly. "I might just stop talking and not want to talk anymore, and I can't control it." She bit her lip and looked down at where her hand was still entwined with Jason's. "Perhaps I'm not the right person after all."

Mrs. Nash gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Don't say that," she told Jessie. "If that happens, then simply hold his hand. Presence and actions can say more sometimes than even the spoken word." She smiled again kindly. "Any more questions?"

Jessie shook her head. "No," she said softly. "I'll give it a try."

"Good," Mrs. Nash said and headed towards the door of the room. "I'll come get you when Diana's shift is over."

Jessie nodded. "Thank you," she said sincerely. The nurse nodded and slipped out the door as Jessie turned back to where Jason lay. Could she do this? Could she talk to a boy she had never met before? What would she say? Should she talk about herself, or would that be selfish? She couldn't exactly talk about him since she knew absolutely nothing about him, now could she?

With only the slightest amount of hesitation, Jessie squeezed his hand a little tighter and opened her mouth to begin talking. She would tell him about herself. She would tell him about her hopes and her dreams, and maybe, just maybe, he would wake at some point and tell her about his.

**A/N: Hey you guys! Here's the next chapter. Hopefully you liked it! Please review! I've loved reading every single one of those reviews. However, some of your reviews would not let me respond to them, so for those that I did not thank, thank you! I haven't forgotten about you. FF is just making it kinda hard at the moment!! LOL! **


	5. Opening Her Heart

**A/N: Hey everybody!! Here's the next chapter. Thank you SO much for all your amazing reviews! keep them coming!! *hint hint*! Also, thanks so much to LaPaige for suggesting Jason's point of view. I couldn't do the whole chapter from his POV, but I did split it up a bit. Hope you approve!! ;) Enjoy!**

Blackness. Pure, blissful blackness. There was such a sweetness to the solitude that Jason found as he hung in between life and death. Nothing could touch him in his current state, and of what he could actually remember and feel, there was mostly silence. Oh, how he loved silence.

Sure, there was the occasional well-wisher, but most of what they said slid over his mind like waves lapping over footprints left in the sand. One moment it was there in his consciousness, and the next, it had faded away.

Time also passed in a blur that meant nothing to him. He slipped in and out of semi-consciousness, never fully able to pry his eyelids open. Why would he want to? The darkness was so comforting, and so all-consuming. Everything was right in his world, until the girl came….

He hadn't been able to understand the murmurings that swirled around him, but as soon as her hand curled around his, Jason felt a jolt of energy fly through him, burning though every pore of his body and flying straight to his heart. By the way the hand tightened momentarily around his, the girl felt it too. After that, everything sounded clearer, and Jason was able to understand more. His mind filtered through what the girl was saying and then what the nurse was murmuring.

He was surprised that he could actually hear the door being closed. Such details had never been so clear to him while he had been…wherever he was at the moment. He wondered who the girl was, and if she was going to say something to him or just sit there holding his hand. He had almost started to slip back into the deeper blackness of his mind when the girl began to speak.

* * *

"I'm not very good at this sort of thing," Jessie said nervously, gripping Jason's hand in both of hers. "But, since I don't know anything about you, it seems only logical to tell you about myself." She smiled and squeezed his hand slightly. "Try not to fall asleep."

* * *

So she had a sense of humor. Jason could feel his lips wanting to curl up in a smile, but the muscles refused to obey his brain. His hand tingled as she touched him, and all he wanted to do was to be able to squeeze back. For the first time, he was able to hear the beeping of the heart monitor, and he could tell that the beats per minute were speeding up. Perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps there was actually something left to live for.

* * *

Who knew that talking to someone could be so difficult? Jessie felt herself squirm in her seat as she struggled to find something to tell Jason about. It wasn't a quiet spell that was keeping her from talking this time, it was simple fear. After all these years of shutting people out, could she open up and let someone in?

"My name's Jessie," she finally managed to say. "I'm seventeen years old and a junior in high school. I've been as foster kid for ten years and I absolutely hate it." She paused, unsure what she should say next. "I can't wait until my birthday," she finally said, revealing a small piece of her dreams, not facts, to this boy in front of her. "I don't know where I'll go or what I'll do, but I know that I'm getting out."

* * *

She was unhappy. Jason knew that feeling. She didn't like the way she was being treated at the moment. He knew that feeling as well. He struggled to understand everything she was saying, soaking it all in as though her words were water and he was a thirsty man.

* * *

"When I get home," Jessie promised him, "I'm going to look up everything I can about you. I want to know all I can so that I don't bore you."

* * *

Jason felt his heart swell slightly, though he didn't understand why. She could never bore him. Her voice seemed to sooth him yet coax him out of his restful state all at the same time.

* * *

Jessie felt the quietness creeping up on her and she found herself content to sit and hold Jason's hand until it passed. It was almost as though there were no words needed between them, just the simple, binding act of hand holding. It was almost unsettling to Jessie when the silence they were surrounded in was broken by the door to Jason's room opening.

Mrs. Nash stepped into the room and assessed the situation with pleased eyes. These two people, both feeling left out of their worlds, had indeed bonded already, just like she thought they would. "Well?" she asked cheerfully, covering up her thoughts. "Did you have a nice visit, Jessie?"

Jessie nodded. "I feel like I-" she paused, feeling foolish by saying something about the connection to the nurse.

"Know him?" Mrs. Nash guessed with a smile.

Jessie gave a small start of surprise. "How did you know that?" she asked sheepishly.

Mrs. Nash smiled. "I just did," she said vaguely. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded towards the door. "Diana's just about ready to leave, so I thought you might want to head back over to the wing."

Jessie frowned. "She sure has a short shift."

Mrs. Nash raised an eyebrow. "Short?" she asked curiously.

Jessie nodded and said, "I've only been here for, like, an hour." She felt that an hour was a generous amount of time, though it felt like much less than that.

Mrs. Nash did something then that surprised Jessie. She laughed. "Jessie," she said kindly, "you've been here for four hours. It's almost seven o' clock."

Jessie turned for the first time and looked out the windows behind her. Sure enough, the sun was setting, it's last rays of light barely seeping through Jason's window. "Oh," she said flatly, blushing. "I guess I should go."

Mrs. Nash smiled and watched with glee as Jessie squeezed Jason's hand and patted it, saying goodbye and that she'd see him tomorrow. Once Jessie's goodbye had been said, Mrs. Nash led her back into Diana's wing where the young nurse was just clocking out.

"There you are," she said huffily. "Are you ready to go?"

Jessie nodded obediently. "Yes," she said softly, trying not to be difficult.

"Then we'd better go," Diana muttered. "I want to get home and go to sleep. Goodnight, Mrs. Nash."

Mrs. Nash barely raised her hand in farewell before Diana was dragging Jessie out of the wing. The two young women rode down the elevator in silence, and then Diana led Jessie over to her car at the end of the parking lot. "Get in," she told Jessie gruffly. That was all that was said during the ride home.

However, it didn't matter anymore to Jessie. A piece of her heart seemed to have been filled in the time she spent with Jason and suddenly, trivial matters like what Diana or her parents thought of her no longer mattered. All she could think about was Jason, and when she got home, she knew that she would be doing some research of the eldest member of Connect 3.

* * *

The girl had said goodbye. The instant her hand had left his, Jason had felt some of the warmth and security in the room vanish. Everything became harder to hear, but he had understood what he had needed to hear most: her name. Jessie. Even her name sparked something in his stagnant body. The beeping of the monitor faded away as he sank deeper and deeper into the clutches of the comforting darkness. He would just rest a little more…until she came tomorrow.


	6. Equal Loners

What had happened to time flying? Jessie fidgeted in her seat, watching the clock above the teacher's head with some consternation. The two black pieces of plastic that decided her fate would simply _not _move! The old saying was not living up to its potential. The teacher cleared his throat, no doubt parched from having droned on so long, and Jessie pinched her leg in order to try and pay attention.

_Brrriiinnnggg!!!_ The bell out in the hall shrilled the end of the school day, and Jessie was up and out of her seat before anyone else could move. The teacher watched her in surprise, not quite sure what to do as she tossed her papers into his drop-off slot and then darted out the door.

She was out of school and down the street in less than five minutes, running at top speed towards the hospital. As she reached the front doors, she slowed to a walk, breathing hard and feeling a bit of sweat trickle down her neck. She stepped inside the cool hospital and mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the air conditioning hit her full force.

_"Now to find a computer,"_ she thought to herself as she nodded and smiled politely at the bored receptionist and headed down the hall in the opposite direction from the elevators. She found a computer room that doubled as a library and slipped inside, knowing that this room was meant to be used by family members too worried about their loved ones to go home to use their computer, but she took advantage of it as she sat down in the swivel chair.

She swirled the mouse around on the mouse pad, waiting for the computer to come out of its sleep mode before she scanned the icons on the main page for the internet icon. Finding it, she double-clicked and waited for the browser to open before she typed, 'Jason Grey' into the search bar and hit the 'Enter' key.

Millions of results popped up, but only the first few had anything to do with what she wanted to find. She scanned the items that caught her attention and clicked on some of the newest news results. A whole page of reports came up, dating back to three years ago when the Connect 3 band had formed. She leaned forward unconsciously and began to read.

Various bits of the news caught her attention as her eyes scanned the pages. _"Jason Grey is a complete gentleman,"_ his wardrobe artist had been quoted on saying, both about his character and his clothing style.

_"Jason Grey's new song was rejected by Radio Disney voters as being 'too deep.'"_ A report stated. Jessie frowned, checking the date of the report. It had been almost a year ago. Another report touted the same message, but this one was dated only two months ago, right after Jason's accident.

_"Jason Grey's girlfriend dumps him on Valentine's Day, telling him that he isn't 'the one.'"_

_"Is Jason Grey's career going to consist of following in his brother, Shane's, shadow?"_ another report ended, and it was evident to Jessie that people saw the exclusiveness that Nate and Shane received, but brushed it off because of the two boys' vivacious characters. Though Nate seemed to be the quite one, he still received plenty of attention.

_"It has been reported that at the last Connect 3 concert, Jason Grey's mic was actually turned off so that no one was able to hear him. Shane Grey has commented, saying that it was an error on the sound technician's part, but is that really what happened, or are the Grey brothers hiding something?"_ Jessie felt her heart give a little squeeze as she read that last report. No wonder Jason refused to bring himself out of his coma. For the last three years, his life had been full of pressure, speculation, and disappointment.

She read a few more reports, some more uplifting than others, and then searched the internet for pictures of Jason, just to see what he would look like if he actually opened his eyes. The first picture she clicked on took her breath away.

A young man of eighteen stared back at her, his curly hair falling around his clean-shaven face, and his smile was full of straight, white teeth that were meant to charm sighs out of fans. However, Jessie noticed something in the picture that few people probably even would. It was Jason's eyes that captured her attention, riveting her gaze on his, and broke her heart at the same time that it made the very same organ swell. For in his eyes, she saw the same sadness that she had seen countless times when she had looked in the mirror at her own face. It was a look of loneliness, and it was a look of restless exhaustion.

Jessie didn't know how long she stared at the picture before she clicked the 'Back' button and chose a few other pictures to peruse. All of them held the same smiling expression with the same look of one who feels that the world doesn't understand the person hidden within. Perhaps Photoshop wasn't as all-powerful as it was cracked up to be, for it couldn't hide the look of loneliness that danced around the edges of Jason's face, ever-present no matter what the occasion turned out to be.

Jessie closed the browser and picked up her school bag to swing it over her shoulder before hurrying out of the computer room at a brisk walk. She couldn't wait to get up to Jason's room! Finally, she had found someone that she could connect with, someone that understood the feeling of having no one in the world to talk to.

The elevator couldn't ascend to the third floor fast enough, and Jessie was shifting from one foot to the other as she waited for the doors to open far enough so that she could slip out. She hurried to Diana's wing and waved to Mrs. Nash, pointing down the hall to tell the matronly nurse that she was heading down to see Jason. Mrs. Nash nodded and winked at Jessie, turning quickly back to the nurse that was consulting with her.

With a whirl that made her backpack almost slide off her shoulders, Jessie turned and headed down the hallway towards Jason's room, trying not to break out into a run. As she reached his room, she pushed open the door and stepped into the room, smiling when she noticed that there was no one else there. She headed over to the side of the bed, dropping her backpack next to her chair, and sitting down. She reached out and took Jason's hand, feeling the jolt shoot up her arm like yesterday. "Hey, Jason," she said softly. The heart monitor gave a loud beep and the BPM, beats per minute, accelerated to a stronger number. Jessie caught her breath, glancing from Jason to the monitor, and back again. Had she stumbled upon something? Was there something about her touch that caused Jason to react differently?

* * *

She was here again! Jason felt the darkness that had imprisoned him throughout the night slowly dissipate as her voice overrode his senses. Her touch once again set his heart to beating faster, and things became clearer to hear and understand. Once again, Jason wanted nothing more than to open his eyes, to squeeze her hand, to say _something_! However, his body refused to respond to any of the commands that his mind was screaming for. All he could do was listen, drinking in the comfort and peace that Jessie brought with her. Jessie. He couldn't utter her name, but his mind replayed it over and over like a mantra.

* * *

For some reason, Jessie found it easier to speak to Jason today. Perhaps it was the fact that she could relate to him now. He was no longer a stranger, devoid of the same feelings that she possessed. He was an equal, someone that was hurting just as much, and maybe even more, than she was.

"I'm really sorry that I wasn't here earlier," Jessie began. "Diana, my foster parents' daughter, wouldn't let me on the computer last night because she wanted to use it." Jessie realized that her voice was betraying annoyance, and she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself. "It wouldn't be a huge deal normally, but I wanted to look up as much as I could about you before I saw you again so that I could talk to you about yourself." She laughed, but the laughter wasn't forced, it was natural. "I wouldn't want you to think I was selfish and only talked about myself!"

* * *

Jason wanted to laugh along with her. He could imagine this girl sitting next to him, holding his hand and laughing with him. He could imagine her cuddling up next to him, perhaps on the beach or in a park, content to just sit there in silence, yet he could never imagine her being selfish. Just the time she had spent with him proved to him that she was not selfish.

* * *

"I didn't really think that there could be someone that felt like me," Jessie said softly, her thumbs stroking that back of Jason's hands carefully. "I didn't realize just how hard life must have been for you for a while." She paused, trying to formulate her thoughts and put them into a logical order before speaking again. "It must be difficult having people reject your ideas because there's too much emotion in it. I can't imagine what it must've felt like."

She paused again, wondering if she should tell him about her life as a foster child in more detail. It was obvious that he wouldn't laugh at her or shy away from her in disgust, so could she trust him? "Yes," Jessie whispered, and looked up at the boy in front of her. "I _think_ I've felt the same way," she said hesitantly. "I've had people telling me with their body language that they didn't want me. I scare people without doing anything. People don't like the way I just stop talking, and they don't like the way I can remember just about anything after I've seen it or heard it one time." She smiled. "I believe it's called a photographic memory, and apparently some people find it creepy."

She smiled at the absurdity and then continued. "I've had people tell me nicely that I'm worthless, and that I'll never amount to anything. I've never had a friend since being a foster kid, and I've felt lonely for these past ten years." She looked up at Jason's face and wondered if it was just her imagination, or did his face look a little more relaxed? "I wonder if you've ever felt like that."

* * *

Jason knew that he had. He had felt shut out. He had felt that he wasn't as talented, or as special, as his brothers. He had felt the pitying looks of people when his brothers had left him out of interviews without actually meaning to shut him out. As the girl that he couldn't see continued to talk, he felt their connection strengthen and grow even more. They were alike, he and Jessie. They shared the same troubles, but perhaps together they could overcome them. Yes, he decided, together they could do anything.

**A/N: VERY IMPORTANT!! The reports I used are all fictious except for the report about his gentlemanly dress!! ****Also, Jason's age is indeed different than in real life because I wanted him to be slightly younger and more...insecure. Remember, this is OOC!! Otherwise, I hope you guys liked it. :D Please review and tell me what you think!! Reviews make me smile!! ;) LOL!**


	7. Telling the World

"We have to do _something_!" Nate exclaimed as he paced around the green room of the late night talk show host, Brian Phelps. His brother, Shane, sat on the couch, watching him with the same expression of perturbation on his face.

"I know!" he said forcefully, his hands balling up into fists, "but what can we really do?" After a long moment, he muttered, "It's his own fault."

Nate wheeled on him, anger flashing in his eyes. "His own fault?" he asked in a deadly low voice that warned his brother that he had said something wrong. "Don't ever say that again in my presence, and don't let mom hear you say that either."

His stony tone startled Shane, but he put his hands up in the air and said, "The doctors say that he could pull himself out of it if he wanted to. That's all I'm saying."

"And why do you think he doesn't want to?" Nate demanded. "It's because of us. It's because of what we've done to him over these last three years." He ran a hand through his curly hair and said regretfully, "If it's anyone's fault, it's ours. For goodness sake! We haven't even gone to see him very often because we've been too busy with the tour schedules!"

Shane was silent for a moment and then he asked again, "But what can we do? Mom and dad have already signed the papers."

Nate didn't answer. He fisted his hand in his eye, striving not to scream, or cry, or both. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I think it's over."

A man appeared at the top of the stairs leading down to the green room and called, "Nate! Shane! You're on!"

Nate glanced at Shane, who stood up from the couch haggardly and said, "Let's get this over with."

Nate shook his head as he followed his older brother up the stairs, muttering under his breath, "I can't believe we're doing this."

* * *

"Welcome back everyone," Brian Phelps said cheerily as the commercial break came to an end, leaning his elbow on his desk to try and create a more friendly, intimate stance with his audience. "We've had our laughs, our jokes, and our downright awkward moments on the show tonight," he said, and the audience was cued to laugh, which they did enthusiastically. "However," he went on, "it's time now for our sad moments. Would you please welcome Nate and Shane Grey of the Connect 3 band?"

Girls screamed shrilly in the audience, waving signs that proclaimed their undying love for the two boys that walked out from backstage dejectedly, and everyone that wasn't screaming clapped at least for the popular teens. Nate and Shane nodded to their admirers, shaking hands with the host and then seating themselves in the two chairs set out for them.

"Hello boys," Brian said congenially.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Both boys returned his greeting tiredly, and it was only then that the exuberant audience realized that there was something wrong. Never had the boys appeared without their brother, and _never_ had they appeared anywhere looking so listless and upset. Murmurs started to circulate, and some of the crewmembers hushed them so that Brian could continue.

"We hear that you have some rather disturbing news for us tonight," Brian went on. "Something about your brother." More murmurs were heard, but they were almost instantly hushed.

Nate, ever the spokesman, nodded affirmatively and turned slightly towards the audience so that he could address them personally. "As many of you know, our brother, Jason, was in a car crash almost three months ago and has been in a coma ever since." He watched as most of the audience nodded their heads in understanding. "Since that time, the doctors have been working very hard to get our brother to wake up, but they haven't been able to succeed." He paused, struggling with his words. "They spoke to our parents and explained the situation, and they have deemed that Jason has no chance of recovering."

Gasps were heard throughout the studio, and the crewmembers of the show didn't even bother to try and quiet them. "So what does this mean for Connect 3?" Brian asked hurriedly. Nate raised an eyebrow and Brian lamely added, "And for your family?"

Nate felt all eyes on him and Shane as he responded, "It means that Connect 3 will be no more and that our family will need the prayers of our fans. Our parents have signed the papers to remove Jason from life support."

After the round of horrified gasps that followed Nate's statement, the entire studio went completely silent. Brian just looked at the two boys in front of him, actually lost for words, and even the cameraman looked shocked as he focused in on the two Grey boys' faces, which were pinched and white.

"Well," Brian stuttered, unsure how to continue. "We are all very sorry for the loss that this will cause you, but you'll definitely be in our thoughts."

"And prayers!" someone called from the audience.

Nate and Shane both turned in that direction and smiled weakly at the girl who had said it. "Thank you," Shane said, speaking for the second time. "We'll need them."

"The boys of Connect 3, ladies and gentlemen," the host proclaimed, his hand sweeping out to include the two boys that sat beside him, staring down at the floor. When he had asked their PR director for an interview, he had never imagined that the bad news they had warned him about would be this bad. The thought of them slowly letting Jason Grey die that way, though he would never feel it, made the host shudder and a horrible feeling crept up his spine, making him edgy.

The boys rose as soon as the show went to commercial and shook hands again with Brian, thanking him politely for having them on his show. "In a way," Shane told him, "it's a blessing. By later tonight, this will be all over the internet and we won't have to go through the explanation again."

Brian just nodded, unsure what he should say. What _did_ one say to two boys that knew that their brother was going to die in a matter of days? "You're welcome, I guess," he finally said lamely. Now did not seem like the right time to make a joke.

The boys waved once more to the audience and disappeared backstage to where their parents were waiting for them. Their mom had tears rolling down her cheeks, and even their father had a tear beginning to form, though he was not normally a demonstrative man. "It's over," Nate said as he put an arm around his mother comfortingly, knowing all the while that his gesture was in vain. At this moment, knowing that she had literally signed her son's life away, Mrs. Grey could not be consoled.

"We'll wait for you two in the car," Mr. Grey told his two sons and led his wife out through the back of the studio.

As Nate watched them go, he felt the tears that he had fought to hold back spring forth, and this time, he let them come. "What have we done?" he whispered to his brother.

**A/N: Okay I just want to say first off that I wrote this last night and couldn't get to sleep for over an hour because I was so depressed! :( Anyways, mickeyhagg, I hope this answers your questions about where Nate and Shane were in the story!! Please review, but don't kill me just because this chapter's depressing! LOL!**


	8. Time's Up

Jessie managed to fall into a routine over the next couple of weeks. She would bear the horrors of school for a few hours and then she would be off, racing towards the hospital so that she could see Jason. Though she had never had an actual conversation with him, Jessie knew that she had opened her heart, and she had found love there for him. She wanted him to wake up more than anything else in the world.

Today, she had thought, would be no different, but she was wrong. School dragged by at its usual, crawling pace and only became worse when her science teacher asked her for a paper that she had forgotten to do. For a moment, she tensed, worried that the teacher might give her detention or something, or perhaps ask her to stay after class, but in the end, she spent the rest of class writing the paper under her teacher's watchful eye.

When the bell finally rang, dismissing her from that class, Jessie quickly exited and headed back to her locker. The senior that always scared her out of her wits was at it again today, slamming his locker when she least expected it and making her jump yet again. She pressed her lips into a firm line and turned away from him without a word. Today, she didn't have time to say something to him.

She headed over to the hospital, walking this time and not running. She felt tired and drained after school, but she had noticed that she had only had one quiet spell throughout the whole day, and it had not lasted as long as the quiet spells usually did.

When she reached the main entrance of the hospital, Jessie sighed, feeling the air conditioning once again hit her whole body, cooling her down after her walk. She waved to the receptionist as she always did, and the receptionist waved back politely, even managing to smile at Jessie as she passed.

The elevator was once again slower than it should have been, but Jessie hung on, glaring at the screen as it flashed, telling her that she had only reached the second floor. The doors opened and a nurse stepped in, nodding to Jessie before she punched the fourth floor button. Halfway to the fourth floor, the elevator dinged again and Jessie stepped out onto the third floor.

She headed into Diana's wing as usual, looking around for Mrs. Nash so that she could tell her that she had arrived. Usually, Mrs. Nash was at the nurses' station, but today, Jessie found her standing all the way at the other end of the hallway. Sucking up all her courage, Jessie strode through the wing, wincing when she realized that nurses were staring at her, no doubt having heard all the horror stories that Diana had come up with. She walked right up to Mrs. Nash, whose face fell when she caught sight of her. "I'll talk to you later," she told the young nurse in front of her. The nurse cast a quick, searching glance at Jessie before she nodded and left, striding quickly down the hall.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Jessie told the matronly nurse, worried that she had interrupted something important.

Mrs. Nash shook her head. "It's no problem," she told Jessie, but her reply sounded stiff and awkward, like she wanted to say something else but had pulled away from doing so at the last minute.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm here and heading over to see Jason," Jessie said. "That's all."

She turned to go, but Mrs. Nash caught her sleeve. "Jessie," she said uneasily, "there's something you should know."

Jessie turned back to the nurse, understanding now that there really _was_ something going on that the nurse wanted to tell her. "What?" she asked nervously, guessing that whatever the nurse had to say, she wouldn't like it.

Mrs. Nash looked like she was struggling not to cry as she began. "Jason's time is up. The doctors have given him no hope, and his parents signed the papers to remove him from the life support."

"What!" Jessie cried, not caring about the other people in the room. At that moment, she could barely process that there _were_ other people in the room. "No! They can't!"

Mrs. Nash grabbed Jessie by the shoulders, not trying to quiet her, but in order to comfort her. "There's nothing we can do. Jason's been in his coma so long that his physician deems his brain to have stopped working anyways. I'm so sorry, Jessie."

Jessie felt her stomach roll, but thankfully, due to not having eaten breakfast or lunch, nothing came up. Her whole body felt hot, as though she was running a fever, and her vision swam in front of her eyes. Putting a hand up to her face, she could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. "No," she whispered again, more to herself than to Mrs. Nash. Jason _wasn't_ brain dead. Jason could hear her. His heart sped up more each time she came into the room. No!

Without another glance at Mrs. Nash, Jessie whirled around and ran down the hall as fast as she could, sprinting through the wing and dashing around the nurses that paused to stare at her in shock. She tore down the second hallway as fast as she could, yanking open the door and skidding to a stop when she realized that there was someone else in Jason's room.

A woman was crying, her head resting on Jason's chest as her husband tried to pull her away. A doctor stood next to the monitor, holding a clipboard in his hands, and two boys stood next to the bed railing, tears freely streaming down their faces. "I think it's time we go," said the woman's husband, and Jessie instantly knew that this was the Grey family.

The doctor nodded and led the way out of the room, brushing past Jessie as she stood right where she had stopped, feeling like her body was glued to the floor. The family filed out, not really looking at her as they moved past, wiping at tears that continued to come. Finally, they were gone and Jessie forced herself to move towards Jason's bedside where he was lying very still. The monitor next to his bed screamed that his heart had not beaten in a minute, and it was that noise that broke Jessie.

She threw herself across Jason's body, crying, "You can't die! You have to wake up!" Sobs tore at her throat and she buried her face in his neck, which was still warm. "I need you," she cried softly. "I need you to stay with me."

Jessie, without thinking about what she was doing, leaned up and kissed him firmly, her hand resting gently on his cheek as though it would hold all of him, his head and his life, right there if she hung on. Jessie broke the kiss when the tears poured forth again and she whispered, "I love you."

With that, she ran from the room. She ran from the horror of seeing the only person she had ever loved dead. And, she ran from herself, knowing that she had become a different, more confident person in the time that she had spent with Jason.

Her sobs were so loud as she ran from the room that she failed to hear the heart monitor give a very short beep….

**A/N: Duh duh duh DUH! Well, do you all feel better now that there's a chance?? This chapter was fun to write, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Please review!!!!! It's really important to me! :D (And yes, the ending scene did indeed come from Just Like Heaven, though I modified it slightly.)**


	9. Questioned Existence

The next week was a blur to Jessie, who found herself close to the point of depression over Jason's death. Her quiet spells, which came more often and for longer periods of time now, seemed to wear on her foster parents, and particularly on Diana. She would glare at Jessie every time she came into their shared bedroom, slamming whatever door she passed through to accentuate her displeasure. Normally, Jessie would have tried to work through her differences with her foster sister, but now, she couldn't be bothered.

School was even worse than it had been before. Time seemed to stick from one minute to the next, dragging on endlessly until Jessie felt like she would cry if the day went on any longer. On Friday, having been an entire week since she had seen Jason, Jessie could barely sit through all of her classes. Her teachers found her difficult to communicate with, but Jessie no longer cared about pleasing everyone. She no longer cared about perhaps being transferred to another foster home. All she cared about was the fact that Jason Grey was dead.

The school bell finally rung, but Jessie was no longer the first person out of their chair, eagerly scrambling towards the door to start their weekend. She was the last person to exit the classroom and anyone who cared to look at her as she passed them in the hall stared after her for a moment, shocked that someone so young could look so old and sad.

Jessie bent over to put her books in her locker, and the locker door above her head slammed shut with hinge-shaking force. Normally, Jessie would have jumped, startled by the noise, but the noise no longer affected her that way. All it did was make her angry, and she stood up and glared at the senior next to her in rare defiance.

"What?" he asked, but to Jessie it sounded more like a squeak, and she wondered how stormy her face must appear to him.

"I," she said slowly, with deadly care put into the syllable, "am _not_ in the mood."

She slammed her own locker with more force than necessary, and it was the senior's turn to jump. His mouth dropped open as the tiny sprite of a junior walked away, her shoulders slumped, as though she carried too much weight and burden on them.

For the past week, Jessie had not been near the hospital. She couldn't bear the sight of the white brick establishment that boasted to help save people's lives, yet had let Jason's life slip away so easily. All it had taken was a pen, and a signature, and his life was no longer his.

"_The pen was probably black,"_ Jessie found herself thinking, and she shuddered despite the warm day as she thought about the only color she had ever loathed.

She pushed away all thoughts of the hospital and of Jason as she headed towards a small park she had found down the street opposite from the hospital. There, she perched on a vacant swing as she delved into her homework. Perhaps if she threw herself headfirst into some project, like homework, and never looked back, she wouldn't feel as much of the hurt and grief she now felt.

* * *

All too soon, it was time for her to start heading home. She had completed her homework two hours ago, but she was in absolutely no hurry to get home to a family that regretted her presence. With a sigh, she packed up her books, tucked her pencils and pens away, and made her way towards home, realizing that she had delayed long enough.

It was only when she stepped through the front door that Jessie realized that something different was going on. There was absolutely nothing littered on the floor, not even dust. She crept into the kitchen and her mouth dropped open when she saw that there were no dirty dishes in the sink. No milk containers were left out to spoil, and no cereal boxes were scattered around the counters.

A noise behind Jessie made her turn, and she saw her foster mother standing there, trying to fasten one of her diamond earrings on. "Hello," Jessie said softly. "Are we going out somewhere?"

Mrs. Davis shook her head, still trying to fasten the earring, and said, "We are, you aren't." She smoothed her dress out proudly as she said, "A family from the hospital is taking us all out to dinner for the work our dear Diana did on their son."

"How wonderful," Jessie said flatly.

"Isn't it?" Mrs. Davis asked, but by her tone Jessie knew that the statement was rhetorical. "Darling!" she called for her husband as she strode out of the room. "I can't get this button in the back!"

Jessie rolled her eyes and trudged toward the staircase to head up to her room. She felt weary, though she had barely done anything strenuous all day. All she wanted to do was sleep. However, there was a pounding on the stairs and suddenly, Diana was in front of her, glaring and blocking the way up to her bedroom.

"Excuse me," Jessie said wearily, trying to be polite.

Diana, however, shook her head. "This is a very important night for me, and I'll not have you ruining it," she hissed at Jessie, taking a step towards her and causing Jessie to take a step back to keep from running into her. "It's a lovely restaurant," she said, tossing her head and making her atrociously-large earrings jangle.

Beyond caring just _how_ wonderful the restaurant would be, Jessie tried again, "Diana, let me through."

Diana pressed her lips together sullenly and shook her head again. "I don't want you messing this up for me," she told Jessie again, narrowing her eyes before she added, "you little freak." That struck a nerve in Jessie, but she only blinked outwardly, determined not to let Diana see any weakness. "When that family comes, mom and dad will be downstairs reading quietly," Diana told her. "The twins will come running in, looking adorable, once the family's been bidden to step inside, and I'll come down the stairs, having just finished getting ready." She raised an unfriendly eyebrow at Jessie and asked, "And you? Where will you be?"

Jessie's eyes narrowed and her anger for Diana spewed forth in controlled sarcasm as she said calmly, "I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist."

Diana's eyes narrowed as she noticed the biting sarcasm that coated the sentence, but she nodded. "Excellent," she told Jessie, stepping aside and allowing her to pass.

* * *

Diana's room was quiet and dark, both of which Jessie was thankful for as she tumbled onto her bed and let the tears fall. They were tears of frustration, and tears of anger. They were tears of sorrow and tears of loneliness. How could the world be so cruel as to take her parents _and_ Jason from her? It was too much for her to handle.

The doorbell rang and Jessie heard Diana scrambling up the stairs. If she hadn't been so distraught and fed up with life, she might have laughed at her foster sister's foolishness. For now, it only conjured up a smile in her mind. She vaguely heard her foster parents talking to someone else, but she didn't pay any attention until she heard slow footsteps coming up the stairs once again and Diana burst into the room.

"Get up!" she hissed, flying around the room. "Get up now!"

Jessie rolled over and stared at her blearily. "What?" she asked, confused.

"Somehow," Diana growled, "they found out that you exist. They want to see you."

"What?" Jessie asked again, now utterly confused.

Diana threw Jessie's best pair of jeans at her and hissed, "Just get dressed!" She wheeled towards the door and threw over her shoulder, "And hurry!"

Jessie dressed as though she was in a daze, not understanding how, or why for that matter, a family of Diana's patient would know her. She pulled on her good jeans and searched through her drawer for an appropriate top. Finding none, she sucked in a breath and did something that she knew she would later regret: She raided Diana's closet.

Inside, she found tops that were far too skimpy and ugly to use, but at the very back of the closet, she found a plain, forest green sweater that fitted her perfectly. She slipped it on, combed her auburn hair back and settled a headband over the crown of her head. After that, she slipped on her worn out Converses and opened the door of the bedroom, taking the stairs two at a time in order to reach the bottom floor in a relatively quick amount of time. It was time to act like she loved where she was currently living, and all the people she was currently living with. Why did her life have to be so difficult?

"Sorry I'm la-" Jessie began, looking up for the first time and cutting her sentence off mid-syllable with a gasp.

There, looking better and more alive than he ever had, and standing in her living room surrounded by his family, stood Jason Grey.

**A/N: WOOHOO!! I've just been waiting for that!! :D LOL! Hope I suprised you a little!! Anyways, I'm sorry for taking so long to write this, but I hope that you guys enjoyed it just the same. I will warn you that updates might be scarcer since I've started school and have a LOT of homework, but I will do my best to write and update as much as I possibly can. ;) Jessie's comment about pretending as though she doesn't exist actually comes from Harry Potter, which I just recently watched for the first time. It worked into the story perfectly, so I thought that I'd use it! Also, please review. I absolutely love hearing from you!! **


	10. Understanding the Impossible

They stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, neither sure whether the other one was real or not. Jessie's mouth dropped open and her hand reached up to touch her astonished lips. "Jason," she whispered.

Diana was the one to ruin the moment. "Yes of course!" she cried, her voice sounding shrill and fake as she tried to conjure up a smile. "Don't just stand there staring at the boy. You'll make him nervous!" She laughed and turned apologetically towards the Grey family. "Sorry about my sister's manners. She doesn't get out much."

Jessie's eyes narrowed as she glared at the back of Diana's head, but Jason stepped forward quickly and held out his hand. "No worries," he said, and his rich, friendly voice sent a thrill through Jessie. "I'm Jason Grey."

Jessie stepped forward the necessary step and pressed her hand into Jason's, feeling the same shock shoot through her arm as usual. "I'm Jessie Hinmoor," she said softly.

Jason smiled up at her, almost bashfully. "I know." He spoke those two words so softly that Jessie had to strain to catch them, but her cheeks turned red when she understood what he had said.

It wasn't Diana this time that ruined the moment, it was her mother. "Right," she said cheerfully. "Shall we all go?"

Jessie was the first one to pull away from Jason's hold, nodding at her mother to signal that she was not only ready, but that she would behave. "Sure," she said.

"We can't all fit in one car, so perhaps Jessie could ride with us?" Jason suggested, his eyes never straying from her face.

"I…suppose," said Mrs. Davis hesitantly, glancing from her daughter to her foster daughter with uncertainty.

"Great," Jason said and took Jessie's hand again as he led her toward the door. "We should get going or our reservations might be canceled."

Mrs. Grey nodded, speaking for the first time since Jessie had descended from her second-floor prison. "You're right," she told her son and then smiled at the Davis family. "See you there?" she asked politely.

Mr. Davis was the only one to smile back. "Absolutely," he said cheerily, and in that moment, Jessie felt sorry for him. It must be difficult to be a rather decent person and have to live with the likes of Diana and her mother.

The two families headed out to their separate cars and Jason, still holding Jessie's hand, led her over to a small car that he opened and helped her into, holding onto her hand as long as possible before he shut the door. It seemed as though he wanted to be close to her at every opportunity, and Jessie understood that feeling. She felt the exact same way.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm sitting next to you, alive and well," Jason said cheerily once he had slipped into the driver's seat and had started the engine.

Jessie nodded. "I know it sounds horrible," she told him, "but I do want to know why you're here. I mean, I watched you die." Her tone was so low and so full of grief that Jason turned to look at her, reaching across the seat and squeezing her hand once again.

"I know," he told her. "If it hadn't have been for you, I _would_ be dead right now."

Jessie frowned and looked at him, not sure what he was talking about. "What?" she asked. "What did I do?"

Jason smiled and glanced her way as he stopped for a red light. "You gave me the will to live," he told her simply. "You taught me that there was something left in this world to care about. Some_one_ left in this world to care about."

Jessie ducked her head, unaccustomed to this praise. "Thank you," was all she said.

"No," Jason told her softly. "Thank you. When I woke up, the whole hospital was in an uproar. They expected me to die, and I didn't, so I ruffled a few feathers." Jessie giggled at the thought of the doctors not knowing what to do with a living, breathing patient, and Jason joined in with her. "One nurse in particular was especially helpful," he told Jessie solemnly, though a smile twinkled in his eyes even as he said it. "I believe her name was Diana Davis. She was just so thrilled that I was awake again that she almost dropped her medical charts and food tray she was delivering."

"What?!" Jessie exclaimed, turning to him in shock. "Diana helped you and she never told me? She's known for a week that you were alive but she never told me? How dare she!"

Jason chuckled. "She wouldn't have been assigned to me if I hadn't asked for her to be. After I had been lucid a few hours, I remembered that my mystery girl had a sister, a 'Di that I wish would die' I do believe?"

Jessie blushed a deep shade of red and looked down at her hands. "You were asleep," she said lamely. "You shouldn't have heard that."

Jason laughed and shook his head, pulling into the restaurant parking lot. "But it led me to you didn't it? You should've seen the look of Diana's face when I asked about her sister. She was furious!" He grinned at Jessie. "It was really funny."

Jessie laughed along with him, imagining how angry her sister must have looked. "I'm sure it was," she said cheerily, feeling happy for the first time in a week. "She sure was angry when she came up and told me to get dressed." Jessie sighed. "I have a feeling that I'm going to be underdressed for this restaurant."

Jason quit the engine on the car and turned to examine her. Worn jeans, tennis shoes, and a simple top was her ensemble for the night, but Jason could hardly take his eyes off her. "You're probably right," he told her truthfully, "but I think you look beautiful just the way you are."

Jessie blushed again and looked down, muttering, "Thank you," as she did so.

Jason reached over and tipped her blushing face up so that he could look at her, and said, "I realize that we, technically, don't know each other very well, but would you consider going on a date with me tomorrow?"

Jessie closed her eyes, trying to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Was this really happening to her? "I'd love to," she told him shyly.

Jason smiled as well and gave her hand another squeeze. "We'd better get inside," he told her. "My family can only cover for us for so long."

"Your family?" Jessie asked him, wondering why they would do such a thing.

Jason nodded and smiled again at her with a look that conveyed just how deeply she had touched his life. "They own a great debt to you," he told her. "They all give you full credit for bringing me back to the land of the living."

They were grateful to her! Jessie couldn't help but smile right back at Jason. "Then we'd best not keep them waiting," she told Jason. "I'm anxious to meet them."

Believe me," he told her with a wink. "They can't wait to meet you."

**A/N: Sorry I've been away. :( I didn't have time to proof this, so if there are mistakes, I'm sorry. I promise to fix them later! I hope you all enjoyed this and please let me know what you think! :D**


	11. Angering Your Foster Sister 101

Dinner was worse than Jessie guessed it was going to be. The twins enjoyed kicking her under the table for the first portion of the meal until Jason complained that his back was hurting slightly and asked if he could switch seats with Jessie. Giving the twins a knowing look, Jason switched seats and the kicking ceased.

However, not even Jason could shield Jessie from the stares she received from the other patrons. Everyone there was wearing their best, and Jessie was keenly aware of the disdainful stares directed at her jeans and simple top. The waiter even sniffed and asked if she was eating, clearly asking, "Can you afford it?" in his disguised question.

"Of course," Jason said, sniffing as well and indicating that he thought that the waiter was being ridiculous. "And might I suggest the filet mignon?"

Jessie nodded dumbly, feeling foolish. She hadn't even managed to look at the menu. "Yes please," she said softly.

"How would you like your baked potato?" the waiter asked her.

Jessie finished ordering and looked up, finding herself face to face with Mrs. Grey, who smiled encouragingly, the smile telling Jessie that she knew exactly what the Davises had done to her by not dressing her up more. "Tell me a little about yourself," Mrs. Grey said congenially, winking so that the Davises couldn't see. "What do you like to do?"

Jessie felt herself start to clam up as every eye at the table turned to look at her. All of the Greys were smiling encouragingly at her, Nate and Shane especially since they knew exactly what she had done for their brother. The Davises, however, were not so kind. Diana was glaring holes into Jessie's head, which was now bending towards the table in embarrassment.

"I-" she started hesitantly, and then felt Jason's hand reach for hers under the table so that no one could see it. He squeezed her hand comfortingly, and that gesture gave Jessie the courage to continue. "I like to write." Her eyes flickered around the table, as though asking for approval, and all the Greys smiled.

"About what?" Mrs. Grey asked, prompting the shy girl in front of her to open up a bit more.

"Anything," Jessie said broadly, though inside, she knew that the answer was, "A better life." Casting a glance at Jason, she knew that he understood as well. An almost imperceptible shake of his head signaled his mom that writing was not a good subject to broach while the Davises were present.

"Do you like music?" Nate asked quietly, having seen the exchange between his mother and brother.

Jessie nodded. "Yeah," she said, but her eyes told the young Connect 3 member that "loved" was closer to the truth.

Their dinner arrived soon after, and the Greys began to talk to Diana instead of Jessie, leaving the younger girl to enjoy her meal in peace. Jessie noticed that, though she was no longer nervous, Jason continued to hold her hand under the table, and she continued to have those same butterflies flutter around in her stomach.

* * *

When their dinner ended, the Greys and the Davises went to leave, and the Davises politely invited their guests back to their house for coffee and dessert. The Greys agreed and so Jason took Jessie home while the Grey and Davis vehicles drove ahead.

"That was really awkward," Jason said with a laugh as a red light separated his car from the other two.

"Yeah, it was," Jessie agreed, thinking back to Diana's sneer throughout the night.

Jason was quiet for a moment before he said, "You know, when I was still in the hospital, all I could think of was going to the beach together. How does that sound to you?"

Jessie smiled at him as the light turned green. "Sounds perfect. What time should I meet you?"

"I'll pick you up," Jason offered. "It's only polite when I'm taking you out."

Jessie chewed on her lip and shook her head. "I think I should meet you somewhere. I don't think anyone will like the fact that you're taking me out on a date, and Diana might even get her parents to forbid me to go out with you." She thought for a moment and then offered, "How about a compromise?"

"Like what?"

"I'll head over to the library for a day of studying, and you can pick me up there," Jessie said with a mischievous smile. With any other family, she would have felt horribly guilty for lying, but she felt absolutely no remorse with this foster family.

"Sounds perfect," Jason agreed. "How about at ten? That gives us almost eight hours together."

Jessie could only imagine what Diana might say when they were alone, so she glanced sheepishly at Jason and asked, "Would you mind terribly if we made it at nine?" She shrugged. "I try to spend as little time in that house as possible."

Jason laughed, completely understanding. "Sure," he said. "That works out better for me." He winked at Jessie as he pulled up to the house. "I get more time with you."

Jessie blushed and allowed him to open her door for her as she stepped out. She and Jason walked up to the front door, only to be met by Diana, glaring again at Jessie. "Where did you two go?" she asked.

Jessie was about to protest that they were only a few minutes behind everyone when Jason spoke up and said, "Sorry Diana. We were caught in traffic."

"Oh," Diana said, her attention riveting back to Jason. She giggled and simpered. "You're here now."

"Yup," Jason said, and leaned in to kiss her cheek softly. "Thanks for looking out for us." Diana was still standing in the same spot when Jason and Jessie slipped past her. Jason winked again at Jessie and whispered, "Works every time." Jessie grinned and slapped his arm.

* * *

When the Greys left, they gave each of the Davises a hug. As Mrs. Grey hugged Jessie tightly, she whispered in Jessie's ear, "Thank you."

Nate, Shane and Mr. Grey did the same, but the rest of the Davises were too preoccupied to notice the thanks Jessie was receiving. Jason said goodbye just like the rest of his family, but Jessie felt a small thrill fly through her when he smiled promisingly one last time before he got into his car and left.

* * *

"The Greys are _so_ sweet," Diana sighed from the bathroom, taking even longer than usual.

Jessie rolled her eyes, stuffing her head under her pillow in the vain hope that she could block out Diana's voice. Her foster sister had been going on and on…and on about the Greys since they had left, and Jessie was getting tired of hearing the same praises sung repeatedly.

"Don't you think so?" Diana asked, poking her head out from the bathroom.

"_That you should shut up?"_ Jessie thought. "Absolutely," she said aloud, knowing that Diana couldn't hear her thoughts and would not recognize that she and Jessie were not talking about the same thing.

"So what did he say to you?" Diana asked, and her tone turned from dreamy to nosy in a split second.

Jessie tensed, knowing that she had to play down Jason's kindness to her or else Diana would suspect something. "Not much," she said flippantly. "He was rather quiet and boring."

Diana scoffed and stepped out of the bathroom. "Jason Grey could _never_ be boring," she said and added with a sniff, "it must've been his company."

"Undoubtedly," Jessie muttered, forcing her temper back down. In less than ten hours, she would once again be with Jason, and the Di that wouldn't die would only be a distant memory. As Diana switched off the lights, Jessie let her thoughts carry her off into dreamland, where thoughts of Jason Grey holding her hand reigned supreme.

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it!! Sorry it's taken me so long! Please review, because your reviews are awesome and just totally make my day! :D **


	12. Beach Getaway

Getting away the next morning was not as easy as Jessie had hoped it would be. Diana kept glaring at her throughout breakfast, and Jessie was beginning to wonder if her foster sister had figured out what she would be doing that day. It was only when Diana sullenly announced that she was being forced to take an extra shift at the hospital today that Jessie understood that it had nothing to do with her.

She had thought that she was safe from her sister's prying eyes, but when she had bounded down the stairs, heading for the door as fast as she could, Jessie had found her way blocked by Diana. "Where are you going?" Diana asked, her hands folded across her chest in a rather intimidating way.

"The library," Jessie told her, amazed that her voice had remained steady under such scrutiny.

"Why?" Diana sniffed. "Don't you have enough books here?"

Jessie grinned. "One can _never_ have too many books," she said truthfully. Books were the source of her inspiration. They were what kept her going when everything else seemed to fall apart. "However," she added, knowing that Diana wasn't convinced, "today's trip is less for fun and more for school. I have a paper that I need to do tons of research on, so I'm spending my free day at the library."

"Oh," Diana said flatly, and Jessie could guess that she felt disappointed that there was no reason to keep her locked away today. "Fine."

"_I'm glad you approve,"_ Jessie thought sardonically. "See you later!" was all she said before she left, cheerfully striding down the walkway on her way to the public library that was only five blocks away.

As she walked further and further away from her foster house, Jessie felt the tension seeping out of her muscles, and even her mind. She felt lighter, freer, than she normally did, and the unaccustomed feeling brought a smile to her face. She began to swing her arms, humming under her breath.

She was in the middle of planning out the plot for another story she wanted to write when a car horn beeped right next to her. Startled that she hadn't heard a car pull up, Jessie whirled around and was met with an even better sight. "Hey," she said cheerfully.

"Morning," Jason said, returning her greeting. "Heading anywhere particular?"

Jessie noticed his grin and mimicked with one of her own. "I believe so. Would you mind dropping me off?" She nodded to the convertible that Jason was currently driving.

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair before jerking his head towards the empty seat next to him. "Hop in," he told her, and she quickly complied.

"This is a neat ride," Jessie observed as she buckled her seatbelt.

Jason nodded, merging into traffic. "It's Nate's, not mine, and I have strict instructions that it shouldn't come away from this date with even a scratch. Otherwise," he paused dramatically, as though thinking about the list of rules his brother had probably given him, "oh yes, now I remember. Otherwise, I'll wish that I had never woken up from that coma." He winked at Jessie and then both laughed, glad that they could joke about that period of their lives together.

* * *

The beach wasn't far, and even though it was a gorgeous day in Los Angeles, there were not many people on the particular section of beach that Jason selected. "Is here alright?" he asked Jessie, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the waves.

Jessie nodded. "Here is perfect," she said, sitting down on the blanket Jason had spread out.

Jason joined her, and though neither one of them had spoken, or asked for permission, Jessie found herself sitting comfortably in front of Jason, leaning against his chest. They were quiet for a long while, simply sitting there together and enjoying the sun, the freedom, and the presence of each other. It was Jason, however, that inevitably broke the silence. "You know," he said softly, "when I was in my coma, I remember thinking about being here at the beach with you, just sitting and talking like we are now."

"Is that why you wanted to come here?" Jessie asked him, touched.

He nodded. "But I want to hear about you," he told her. "What is Jessie short for? Jessica, I'm guessing."

Jessie grinned, leaning her head back against his shoulder slightly. "You'd be wrong," she told him. "It's short for Jesselynn," she said, pronouncing the name like "Jess-a-lynn."

"I've never heard of that before," Jason said softly. "It's beautiful."

Jessie smiled as she watched the waves crash onto the shore of the beach. "It _is_ rather pretty," she murmured, almost to herself. "My mom chose that name."

Jason glanced down at Jessie and realized that she was waiting for encouragement to go on with her story. "She chose well," he said. "What happened to them?"

"My parents?" Jessie asked, even though she knew the answer. She smiled, but the smile wasn't genuine, it was pained and a little bit cynical. "Typical story," she told Jason. "They died in a car crash one night coming home from a Christmas party. The paramedics told me that they weren't in any pain, that they died instantly, but that doesn't really make me feel any better."

Jason shook his head, trying to understand the feeling of losing both his parents in an instant. "Then what happened?" he asked.

"Then I buried them," Jessie told him. "And then, right after the service, foster care took me away." She rubbed her eyes angrily, embarrassed that she had started to cry. "Everything that day was black. The mourners clothes, the cars, the flowers were even black," she told him with a sniff. She leaned back a little more so that she could see Jason's face and said softly, "That's why I hate black."

Jason nodded and hugged her a little closer. "I can see why," he said softly. Boldly, he kissed her hair, losing himself for a moment in the sweet fragrance of her coconut shampoo. "I'm sorry that you've had so many disappointments in life already."

Jessie shrugged. "It's okay, I guess," she said with a smile. "It brought me to you, didn't it?"

Jason nodded, but didn't say anything. There were no words that needed to be said. They had each other, and it was almost as though a bond had been forged between them, and nothing could break it apart.

* * *

They spent the whole day at the beach, laughing with each other and playing in the waves, or simply sitting next to each other on the blanket, talking. Jason told Jessie about his life, his struggles, and his dreams, and she did the same in return. Jason had brought a picnic fare with him and they eagerly ate that up halfway between lunch and dinner.

"Today's been wonderful," Jessie told Jason later.

Jason turned from where he was lying on his back to look at her. Her hair, still damp from the water clung to her neck, and the little droplets soaked into her swimsuit. The dying light of the sun illuminated the color of her hair, reflecting and making the strands look like living fire. Her green eyes sought his, and he momentarily compared them to emeralds before he swallowed and tried to force himself back to the present.

"I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself," he told her, rolling onto his side so that he could face her more comfortably.

"Did you have fun?" Jessie asked him, raising herself up onto her arm as well.

Jason nodded. "Today was one of the best days of my life," he told her honestly.

Jessie blushed. "Right," she murmured.

Jason put a hand under her chin and drew her face up so that she was looking right at him and then said, "I'm being perfectly serious. When I spend time with you, it's like there's absolutely nothing wrong in the world." He paused and then looked out over the ocean. The sun was setting, and he knew that he didn't have much time before he would have to take Jessie back home. It was now or never. "I realize that we've only known each other for, well technically it's been a day, but it's been more like a month, right?"

Jessie laughed and nodded, remembering the time spent together in the hospital. "Right," she said with a nod.

"However," he said softly, his hand reaching out to grasp and errant strand of auburn hair and tucking it behind Jessie's ear, "I think I'm in love with you." He blinked and then said, "And I know you love me."

Jessie's eyes widened even more, if that was even possible, and her mouth opened and closed for a few moments, but no sound came out. She wasn't embarrassed, for she knew that he was right. She was thrilled beyond words that he loved her, but she had no idea how he knew that she loved him. "How…?" was all that she managed to squeak out.

"That day at the hospital," Jason answered, guessing what she was asking. "You told me you loved me before you kissed me." He was grinning widely at her, and Jessie felt her face heat up.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," she told him, but her tone had no effect because she was trying not to laugh out of sheer relief. He loved her!

"Why not?" Jason asked humorously, but he already knew the answer. She had figured that he would be unable to feel or hear her declaration. "It was one of my favorite days when you told me that."

Jessie blushed and then looked up at him, completely serious. "It's the truth," she told him.

Jason nodded slightly and leaned in. "I know," he whispered before he kissed her very softly, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her a little closer to his side. He knew that she had never kissed anyone besides him and so he took his time, gently guiding her through the kiss. When they finally pulled away from each other, both wore matching grins.

Jason looked back at the horizon and frowned. "I really should get you back," he said softly, sounding upset that he had to do so.

They gathered up the blanket and the picnic basket and headed back to the car. The drive back to the library was rather silent, yet comfortable, since Jason held Jessie's hand the whole way. They only time the silence was punctuated was when Jason asked suddenly, "When's your birthday?"

"Two hundred and seventy-three days away," Jessie responded immediately.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You counted?" he asked, amazed and amused.

Jessie nodded. "I told you," she said, "as soon as I turn eighteen, I'm out of that house." She glanced out along the road and said softly, "It's been the backdrop for a couple of my stories lately."

"Would you ever let me read one?" Jason asked her.

Jessie glanced back at him and nodded. "The next time you rescue me from that house," she bargained, "I'll let you read one."

Jason laughed and drew up next to the curb outside the library. "Deal," he said softly and kissed her goodbye.

**A/N: Hopefully the long chapter makes up for my long absence!! Missed you guys, but school's pretty crazy. Hope you liked the beach date, and please review!!!! Reviews bring joy to my life. :D LOL! Also, 101 reviews!! You guys are amazing! Thank you all so very much! :)  
**


	13. Surviving for 273 Days

The day Jason told Jessie that he was leaving was the day her little world, which had just been made whole by his presence in her life, shattered once again. He had met her at the library and had slipped a cell phone into her jean pocket, telling her to text him every moment she could. She had tried not to cry, since he promised that if he couldn't see her sooner, he would be there to spirit her away on her birthday, but she had failed miserably.

"I know how you feel," Jason had told her, holding her close, "but I have to go. Our record company wants us to make up for the time we spent away, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Jessie had nodded and had wiped her eyes, saying softly, "You promise to come get me, though?"

Jason had nodded in return. "Seven twenty-two in the morning, right?" he had asked, giving Jessie the exact time that she had been born.

Jessie had nodded her consent, having told him that she wanted to leave the exact minute that she turned eighteen. "Not a minute later, either," she teased him.

Jason had cupped her chin in his hand and had brought her lips to his. "I won't be late," he had promised.

* * *

Now, Jessie was forced to spend her days going to school and pretending that Jason Grey no longer existed. Her foster family never noticed, but she always sat up a little straighter when a report about Connect 3 aired, and her schoolbag was full of every magazine article that featured Jason in some way. Knowing that he was out there, counting down the days just like she was, strengthened Jessie in between text marathons.

School was no longer a hassle, though it was still time consuming. The senior never bothered her again, and Jessie even smiled at him each morning when he very carefully closed his locker door.

The teachers were the most surprised at Jessie's "transformation." No more quiet spells caused her to cease speaking, and all of her homework was always turned in ahead of time. Jessie realized that all along, her quiet spells had been her way of finding peace and quiet in the world, but now that she had Jason, she had no need for them anymore.

* * *

How's your day going?" Jason asked her as she sat sprawled out in the back section of the library with the phone to her ear.

Jessie shrugged even though she knew he couldn't see her. "I've had better, but at least Diana's been working all day so I don't have to put up with her."

A chuckle came through the line as Jason laughed. "Miracles do happen," he said dryly.

"So what's up with you?" Jessie asked, twirling her pencil around in her hands. She'd been promising herself for the last ten minutes that she would say she had to go, but she couldn't bring herself to hang up, no matter how important the history assignment in front of her was. Napoleon could wait just a few more minutes.

"Nothing new really, but there _was_ something I wanted to ask for your help with." The way Jason said the sentence hinted at something important, and Jessie found herself sitting up straighter without realizing it.

"Oh?" she asked, intrigued. "What?"

"Well, my brothers and I are doing this movie for Disney, but the writers are having trouble since their main guy dropped out, and they've yet to find a female lead. I was wondering if you could help out with writing the script."

Jessie's stomach dropped as the weight of Jason's proposal sank in. "Jason, I can't do that! I have absolutely no training! I don't know the first thing about writing a script." However, her voice conveyed a wistful tone that she didn't realize she possessed, and it was in that moment when she realized that she _wished_ she knew how to write a script.

Jason heard it too, and he latched onto it. "You don't have to write the script," he told Jessie, his tone turning wheedling even as he spoke. "All you need to do is read it through and make corrections, perhaps give a few suggestions. That's all."

Jessie laughed. "Oh that's _all_, is it?" she said sarcastically.

"Please Jess?" he said softly. "It would mean a lot to me, and I know by the way your voice sounds that you want to give it a try."

Jessie paused for a long moment before she finally said, "Fine, but don't expect it to be an Oscar winner or anything like that."

"I won't," Jason said cheerily. "Now here's what we'll do."

Immediately, Jessie began writing down Jason's instructions as quickly as she could, her smile growing wider and wider as she listened and nodded in all the right places.

* * *

The post office box was relatively easy to obtain. It was a small box at the very end of the post office, just wide enough for a mid-sized box to fit in. Jessie texted Jason the address and then headed home, promising that she would check the box the next day for the manuscript that was sure to come.

When she returned, she twisted her key into the lock and opened the small door, only to find a small package waiting for her. She smiled with delight and pulled it out, stuffing it into her bag until she reached the park where she could open it in peace.

Inside, she found the entire manuscript for the movie, as well as a note from Jason, telling her that he hadn't forgotten how many more days he had until he could carry her away to safety. She laughed at the light-hearted note and began to read through the manuscript, slowly gaining a rhythm in her reading and writing. She could barely see by the time she finished because the sun had set an hour ago, but as she made the final correction, she smiled. She'd done it. Perhaps it wouldn't be an Oscar or an Academy Award winner, but it was going to be pretty close.

**A/N: Here you guys go! Thanks so much for all your reviews! Sorry it's taken so long, but I've been having Doc Manager problems. :P Hope you enjoyed this! :D By the way, do any of you know what ever became of the Official CR Awards? Every time I try to get in contact with the "seven," I never get an answer and I can't find the winning stories. :(**


	14. Freedom

When her birthday count brought Jessie in at under one hundred days left, she felt her heart speeding up. So many things seemed to be going right in her life now. The directors had approved her script, making only two changes to it, they had asked her to be on set when the production began, and she was less than one hundred days away from getting out of the Davis household.

School was quickly winding to a close, and when the first day of summer hit Jessie, she smiled broadly, unable to contain her excitement. She even spared the senior a few, polite parting words before she slammed her locker, grinning as she watched him flinch, and practically skipped towards the double doors at the end of the hall that secured her freedom.

"Goodbye school," she whispered, secretly thrilled that she had managed to graduate a year early _and_ skip the graduating ceremony. After all, no one that she wanted to come would be there, and the Davises might not want to come at all, so why bother? With her diploma in her backpack, Jessie began her trek home feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

* * *

_A week._ That was all there was left until her birthday. Jessie rolled over on her bed, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to block out Diana's droning voice. Diana had a terrible habit of following Jessie around just to get on her nerves. She excelled at it.

"_One more week,"_ Jessie muttered to herself, pressing her face as far into her pillow as she could without suffocating herself. A while ago, she might have tried it, but now, there was too much to live for.

"Oh I know, and I told her exactly that, but do you think she would listen to me? NO!" Diana went on, waving her hands around as she spoke into her sleek little cell phone. Jessie couldn't help but smile whenever she saw that cell phone. Diana pranced around like her phone was the best, yet Jason had given _her_, Jessie, a newer, better model.

"_There are just some things that people shouldn't know about,"_ Jessie thought with glee. Diana would be furious if she knew that Jessie even _had_ a cell phone, much less a better model than she did.

"And you know, she's just trying to worm her way up the ladder any way she can," Diana went on, no doubt talking to a nurse colleague about another nurse. With the way Diana was smirking, Jessie had no doubt that whatever news she was giving her friend would be all over the hospital in a couple of hours. She pitied the poor nurse they were talking about.

* * *

_Six more days._ Each day now seemed to drag on for an eternity before the sun finally set and ended the day. Jessie slipped out the door when Mrs. Davis wasn't looking and scrambled for the library where she could find some peace and quiet for a few hours.

The librarians knew her because she came in frequently, so Jessie waved and then headed towards the back aisles of the establishment where she knew she wouldn't get caught. Slipping her cell phone out of her pocket, Jessie switched the volume completely off and then checked for texts. There were three from Jason, one from Nate, and two from Shane.

Eagerly, she opened Nate's first, saving Jason's for last. **"We can't wait to see you,"** it read. Jessie felt touched and quickly texted a thank you to the youngest Grey boy.

"**Help me!"** Shane's read. Jessie laughed and moved to the next text to see what Shane needed help with. **"Jason's talking about you CONSTANTLY!!"** Jessie laughed and texted back with a sweet, **"LOL!"** and moved on to Jason texts, her heart speeding up.

Though she hadn't known him for very long at all, Jessie knew that this was the boy that was destined for her. Perhaps it would take more time for him, but already she was thinking of what kind of wedding dress she might like.

"_Stop it!"_ she mentally shouted at herself, turning back to Jason's texts. Now was not the time to be rushing into marriage after one date and an admitted love for each other.

"**Miss you like crazy,"** said the first text. **"Heading out across the US for you right now,"** said the second one. **"Only six more days!!"** crowed the last one. Jessie smiled broadly and texted a reply back to her boyfriend. She looked up and smiled as she caught sight of one of the librarians shelving books and discretely ignoring the fact that she was using her cell phone in the library. Yes, Jessie would miss this place of peace and quiet.

* * *

_Five more days._ Jessie gritted her teeth as Mrs. Davis handed her a bucket of soapy water and directed her out towards the two cars in the driveway that needed to be washed. She could do this, she told herself, resisting the urge to turn around and dump the water on her foster mother's head.

"Just five more days," she told herself in an effort to calm down. "You can do it. Just five more days." She glared at the two cars and set to work as quickly as she could.

* * *

_Four more days._ Jessie escaped to the park and spent the day swinging up towards the sky, dreaming about a certain person that would soon be coming for her. When the sun finally set, Jessie heaved a sigh and slid off the swing, her legs burning slightly from the strain of swinging most of the day. However, she was happier than she had been in a long time, which made the achy muscles worth it.

* * *

_Three more days._ Jessie tried to remain calm as she babysat her foster brothers while her parents and Diana went to dinner to celebrate Diana's sudden promotion.

"Simon, stop it," Jessie said authoritatively as she watched one of the twins try to choke his brother. Simon glared at her, but reluctantly let his brother go. Almost immediately, his brother Steven pounced, and Jessie had to start all over again, bribing them into good behavior by watching a movie. "Twerps," she muttered under her breath.

By the time the night was over, Jessie was exhausted and fell into bed stiffly. She drifted off into sleep, not even caring about Diana's dronings about how the night had been. She was too tired to care.

* * *

_Two more days._ Jessie began to feel anxious, excited, and nervous. The day passed in a blur and she had a difficult time getting to sleep. Just two more days and she would be out of this house and in Jason's arms. _"Go to sleep,"_ she commanded herself. _"He'll come faster if you do."_

* * *

_One more day._ Time felt as though it was never going to move again. The clock barely budged all morning, and Jessie escaped by slipping out the back door so that she could head to the park in order to relieve her nervousness. She ran a hand over the rungs of the swing, realizing that, if she could help it, she would never be back again. She kicked off the ground and gave her favorite swing one last chance to shoot her to the stars.

* * *

Jessie awoke on her birthday at seven, her heart pounding. She'd stayed up late last night and had therefore waited until Diana was asleep to pack her backpack full of her clothes, leaving everything her foster family had given her on her carefully made bed. She didn't want them accusing her of taking anything, no matter how small the item might be.

The clock read fifteen minutes past seven when she finally finished dressing and perched herself on her bed, taking deep breaths in order to calm herself. She whipped out her phone since she was alone and texted Jason to ask where he was. Almost immediately, she got a reply.

"**I'm outside waiting for you,"** the text read. Jessie's heart gave a leap. She was really going to get away!

The clock was agonizingly slow as number after number flashed on its illuminated face. Soon, there was only one minute left, and Jessie stood, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She looked around the room once more and then left, shutting the door in a decided manner as she left it behind and strolled down the staircase one last time.

With her heart hammering, Jessie strolled into the kitchen and found all the Davises eating breakfast. She cleared her throat to direct the attention towards herself and said, "Just wanted to say goodbye," just as the doorbell rang. Jessie grinned. Jason was right on time.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Davis asked, confused.

"I'm leaving," Jessie said simply, heading out into the living room towards the door. If they cared, they would follow her.

She heard the sound of chairs being pushed back and then Mr. and Mrs. Davis, along with the twins and Diana were standing in front of her, glaring at her. "You can't just leave," Diana told her haughtily.

"As a matter of fact," Jessie said, opening the door to reveal Jason standing there, "I can. Since I'm sure you all forgot, today's my birthday and I'm old enough to leave you all. I thank you very much for your hospitality, goodbye!"

Diana gasped, and the Davises looked shocked. "This is a trick!" Diana screeched, outraged.

Jason spoke for the first time, and Jessie's heart trembled slightly as she heard him speak in person for the first time in months. "No trick," he said, and pulled Jessie in for a long kiss. When Jessie pulled away, Diana's face had turned an unbecoming shade of purple. She gave a little wave and let Jason escort her out to his car, knowing that the Davises couldn't do anything about it. She was her own adult, and she could do as she pleased now.

Jason held her hand tightly as he climbed into the driver's seat and pulled away from the curb, neither of them looking back as the house disappeared from view. "Happy birthday," he told her softly as his hand tightened lovingly around hers.

She smiled back at him and nodded. "The best," she assured him.

**A/N: YES! I don't know about you, but I'M happy!! LOL! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and thanks for patiently waiting for this one. Hope it was slightly worth it! You guys are all awesome! :D**


	15. Love you Forever

Jessie woke to sunlight streaming in from her windows above her bed and stretched contentedly, burrowing deeper into the sheets. She smiled and sat up, unable to sleep anymore no matter how comfy she was, and glanced at her alarm clock situated above her bed. 9:36. She had plenty of time before she was due on set.

Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on her door and her boyfriend, Jason Grey, poked his head in. "Hey sleepyhead," he said with a grin. "It's the big day."

Jessie nodded. "Believe me," she told him honestly, "I know."

Jason noticed something in the way she said it, and he stepped inside her room to sit down on her bed. "Are you nervous?" he asked her, guessing the answer before she said anything.

Jessie grinned back at him nervously. "What do you think?" Three weeks had passed since her birthday and she had made her home in the spare bedroom of the Greys' home. In that time, she had visited the set of the movie, spoken several times to the director, planned out some of the scenes, and had been given the main role because the other girl had bailed. Nothing too strenuous or confusing, right? Wrong.

She had thought, up until last night, that she would really have no problem stepping in for Miss I'm-suddenly-too-good-for-this-movie, but now, the butterflies in her stomach were threatening to choke her. How could she possibly have thought that she could take over for an actress? She had _absolutely_ no training in acting aside from the little bit that the Greys had helped her with over the past weeks.

"I think," Jason said, his sweet voice breaking through her thoughts, "that you're thinking too much. You'll be fine," he promised. "Most of the scenes are with me anyways, and if something goes wrong, you know that the director in Jerry will take care of it, and I'll be right there beside him." He leaned in, kissing her softly and using one hand to tilt her head up to his. "I love you, and I'll take care of you forever."

Jessie smiled widely, feeling the familiar tingling from her head to her toes when he kissed her and told her that he loved her. Such declarations were common between them, but the declarations never got old, or lost their meaning. "I love you too," she said, winding her arms around his neck.

Jason kissed her once more and then said, "We really have to get going. We need to be on set in three hours."

"Fine," Jessie huffed, unwilling to let this rare moment with Jason slip by. They were almost always interrupted by someone in the family, and she treasured the times when her moments with Jason were accident-free.

She moved to stand, but Jason pulled her down unexpectedly and kissed her again, harder and more urgently than last time. When she pulled away, slightly shocked, Jason asked her, "You know I love you, right?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow, unsure as to why he was telling her that he loved her…again. In the same sitting. With a look of desperation in his eyes. "I, uh, love you too," she said, distracted by his eyes boring into hers. "Something on your mind?" she asked invitingly. "You know that you can share it with me, right?"

Jason smiled, and Jessie noticed the slightly sad note in his expression. "I know, and I just wanted to make sure that you knew without a doubt." He shrugged. "You know that for part of the movie, I have to be enamored with someone else, and I didn't want you to have any room to worry about my love for you."

Touched, Jessie kissed him once more and bounded off the bed happily. "I love you too," she said. "And _you_ love me so much that you'll let me use the shower first."

Jason groaned, slapping a hand mockingly over his forehead. "The things I do for you," he moaned dramatically.

However, as he peeked at her through the fingers covering his eyes, they shared a look of such complete contentment that Jessie knew that he had absolutely no problem with sharing the shower, or anything else for that matter, with her.

* * *

Filming, three hours later, was much different than Jessie had expected it to be. She had figured that when she showed up, she would begin acting right away. Instead, she had to wait for half an hour before going through the torture of wardrobe and makeup, and then wait another forty-five minutes until her scene was called. In that time, she'd already make an enemy in one Moria Trace, her onscreen "best" friend. Obviously, not every girl wanted to marry _just_ Shane or Nate.

By the end of the day, Jessie was tired from the acting and mentally exhausted from recovering from all of Moria's carefully concealed barbs about being a foster child. _"Former foster child,"_ Jessie thought stiffly. She was her own person, and she belonged to no one but herself and Jason.

But it was Jessie who had the last laugh when the last scene for the day was cut. Jason came over and swung his arm over her shoulders as if it was the most normal thing he could have done (which it was). Moria's face went a strange shade of purplish-red and she whirled away angrily, reminding Jessie a lot of her former foster sister, Diana.

"Good day?" Jason asked Jessie, completely oblivious to what had just been exchanged between the two girls.

Jessie glanced back, looking in the direction that Moria had headed, and nodded. "Yup," she said happily. "However," she teased, "if you give me a kiss, the day will get even better."

Jason's mouth quirked into a grin and he leaned down to grant her request. "Better?" he asked when he pulled away, his voice sounding slightly deeper to Jessie.

Jessie nodded. "Much."

"Ready to go home?" Jason asked her. "Everyone's waiting in the car for us."

Jessie nodded and twined her hand with his as he guided her off the set and out into the parking lot where the rest of their family was waiting. Yes, _their_ family. Because though they were not related by blood, they all shared something in common that drew them together: Varying degrees of love for Jason.

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it! :D I'm moving a little quicker through these parts because I want to get to the fun ending. I hope you're enjoying this, and there might be one or two chapters left. Please review!!! I NEED those reviews! :D Also, to those of you that reviewed and I didn't thank, I'm very sorry, but FF wouldn't let me, so I didn't ignore you, I just couldn't thank you. THANK YOU!! ;)**


	16. Too Fast?

The film production whirled past at a speed that Jessie couldn't even comprehend. One moment, they were filming the very first scene, and the next, Jerry was thanking everyone and telling them what a great job they had done. "See you at the premiere!" he crowed, and many of the people on set cheered.

Jason hugged Jessie, her back against his front, his arms around her waist, and kissed the top of her head. She smiled up at him excitedly, feeling that familiar bond between them saying all the words they needed to say for them. However, she needed to say these three words out loud. "I love you," she whispered.

Jason kissed her lips this time, brushing his mouth against hers very lightly. "I love you too," he told her. He paused for a moment, his whole body stilling, and then he whispered softly in her ear, "What do you say we celebrate tonight?"

Jessie frowned, confused. She watched the extras filing off set as she asked, "What kind of celebration?" she asked, interested.

Behind her, Jason smiled widely in exultation. "I was just thinking about you, me, dinner for two, maybe some candles," he told her.

Jessie nodded happily. "Sounds great to me," she said. "I wasn't really looking forward to that afterparty." She'd heard other people talking about it and knew that it was going to be extremely loud, noisy, and perhaps even a little drunken.

Jason drove them home where they both slipped into their separate rooms to change. Jessie missed the smile that Jason and his parents shared when he told them that he was taking her out to dinner. After all, they had gone out to dinner several times before. This time wasn't going to be any different…right?

Jessie dressed in her dress jeans and her favorite top (the one she had worn the first time she had ever met Jason). She pulled her matching Converses on and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, smoothing her rather unruly hair down with the aid of some gel. Then, she was ready to go. She sat down on her bed and pulled out the latest book she was reading, knowing that when Jason was ready, he would knock on her door.

* * *

A knock sounded half an hour later and Jessie eagerly tossed her book aside. No romance in her story could ever compare to the romance that was waiting for her right now, a lopsided smile no doubt on his face. As she predicted, he was right there, waiting for her.

"Hey," he said softly. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she grinned. He always said that, and, (she was assured) he always meant it. "Ready?"

Jason nodded and led the way out of the house, smiling when his parents urged them to have a "wonderful" time, and helped Jessie slide into the passenger seat of his new car. He knew that as soon as he slid into his own seat, she would be asking questions as to where they were going, and he was not disappointed.

"So where are we going?" Jessie asked, right on cue.

"Not tellin,'" Jason responded glibly. He always enjoyed Jessie's attempts at solving his puzzles.

"Please?" Jessie asked, batting her eyelashes even though she knew it was never going to work.

"Nope," Jason said. "Sorry." His grin grew even wider with anticipation, and Jessie felt herself smile despite her ignorance.

They rode in comfortable silence, neither pressing the other to talk. Silence was the way they had met, and it was the most comfortable exchange of all.

Finally, they reached the park they had often frequented and Jason opened Jessie's door for her. As soon as she stepped out, she saw Shane and Nate lounging on a spread out blanket a ways off, partially hidden by the trees and the dying light. They seemed to be arguing about something, and Jason shook his head in brotherly exasperation. "Come on," he said and took her hand.

"Just one!" Shane cried, his hand reaching for something in the picnic basket they guarded, but Nate quickly slapped his hand away.

"Nope," Nate said, and turned, finding Jason and Jessie strolling closer. "Finally!" he called to Jason. "Shane's been after your cookies for the past ten minutes."

Shane neither denied nor argued the fact. He only crossed his arms over his chest in mock anger.

"Thanks guys," Jason said softly, and they both nodded, leaving after they each gave Jessie a hug.

When they had disappeared, no doubt heading over to the afterparty for the cast, Jason began pulling out food. Jessie's eyes grew wide at the copious amounts, but she only smiled broadly and dug into everything that Jason put on her plate. "This is delicious!" she said around a mouthful of lasagna.

Jason grinned and bowed. "I'm glad you like it," he told her with a smile.

"Did you make it yourself?" Jessie asked before taking another bite.

Jason winked at her. "Maybe," he said, noncommittal.

Jessie took a sip of her lemonade and said, "Well if you did, then you did a fabulous job."

Jason grinned. "Thanks."

* * *

They were silent for a long while, eating and relaxing, but it was Jason who broke the silence this time. He looked down at Jessie, who had moved into his lap, and asked, "Jess, do you think we might have taken this too fast?"

Jessie stiffened. What did he mean? Was he going to break up with her? "Huh?" she eloquently managed to squeak out.

"I mean," Jason told her, "do you ever feel like we went too fast? Do you feel like you missed something in the friend and dating process?"

"No," Jessie told him. "I feel like I've known you forever, and even though it's seemed really fast to others, we both know that this is where we want to be." She looked over her shoulder at Jason with concern. "Right?"

Jason nodded. "Absolutely," he said. "I just didn't want you to feel like you're missing out on something."

This whole conversation was getting weirder, so Jessie took the bait clearly offered and asked, "Okay, why?"

There was a long pause, and Jessie realized that Jason was shifting slightly behind her. Finally, he turned her around and held up the object he had just retrieved. "I was hoping that you'd marry me," he said softly, holding out the gold-banded ring.

Jessie's eyes grew wide as she glanced from Jason to the ring, and back again. Over and over and over again.

Jason was starting to feel nervous. Had he gone too fast? No, she had said that she didn't feel like she was missing out on anything. "Jess, please say something," he pleaded.

In response, she launched herself at Jason. "Yes, yes, a million times yes!"

* * *

They were married four months after Jason proposed, a small service with only family and friends to avoid all the press undoubtedly involved in their union. After all, they _were _Hollywood's most interesting couple at the moment. Right after the wedding, which took place in the same park where Jason proposed, they honeymooned in Ireland, spending quiet time alone, sequestered in one of Ireland's many rolling hills. Later, they came back to the States in order to settle down and work on their careers. Jerry was the director in the next two films they starred in.

**A/N: This has taken me so long to get it right! I'm so sorry that it's been so long. School and my own brain are to blame. I hope you enjoyed this, and there's going to be one more chapter before the end, so please review and tell me if you liked it!! :D Thanks goes out to -SecretPrincess- for asking me to elongate the ending some more. Thanks so much for the suggestion, Sam! I hope you approve. ;)  
**


	17. How to Tell Him

How to tell him. How to tell him. How to tell him. Those four words rang over and over in Jessie's head as she clutched the object in her hand. Would he be happy? Shocked? Angry?

"Oh just put it down, stupid!" she hissed at herself. It amazed her at the moment that such a little thing like opening five fingers could be so difficult. Could she do this? Maybe she was wrong. Nope. She'd done this seven times. She wasn't wrong.

Jessie finally managed to pry her fingers open, setting the object down on the dresser where she was sure that Jason would find it and then whirled around and flew back into the kitchen before she could change her mind. Dinner was waiting for her.

Two years of being married had still not prepared her for being a fabulous cook, since she had not had anyone to instruct her during her growing up years after her parents died, but somehow, she had managed. Currently, she had four different cookbooks splayed out on the immaculate counters of her large kitchen, all spitting instructions at her that she had trouble following.

When Jason had presented her with the house they now lived in, she had childishly told him to return it. It was far too big for two people. However, he had simply laughed and kissed her, saying, "You can't _return_ a house, and who says there'll only be two of us?" His lifted eyebrows had caused a deep blush to spread over Jessie's face that stayed for so long that she was worried it would never dissipate.

That memory made her smile now as she glanced over the cookbooks, silently thankful that there was a phone right above her head, equipped with speakerphone. Jason would never have gotten a decent meal if Jessie hadn't been able to talk to his mom and ask for help almost every time she cooked.

Jessie glanced at the clock on the wall and felt her palms begin to sweat. In fifteen minutes, just a quarter of an hour, her husband would be home and he would find out her secret. Just a quarter of an hour to prepare herself for who-knows-what to come.

Jessie bit her lip, glad that the timer next to her was still ticking away, filling in the void of silence that would surely have bothered Jessie much more. Tick, tick, tick. It was not only ticking down the time when her confection would be complete, but also the time until secrets came out.

"Shoot!" she muttered as she caught her finger in the drawer she had been absently closing. She sucked it into her mouth for a moment and groaned. "That hurt," she said aloud, as though to announce to herself that although she was still in a relative state of shock, she could still feel pain.

"Would you like me to kiss it and make it better?"

Jessie squealed. Yes, actually squealed, and jumped around, her eyes wide and frightened, her left hand brandishing a wooden spoon as if her life depended on it. She found Jason casually leaning against the doorframe to his kitchen, twelve minutes early. "You. Scared. Me," she told him, her words punctuated to show the damage he had done.

"Sorry," he said with a smile and raised his hands in surrender. "I won't do it again, so just put the spoon down."

His mock threatened voice caused Jessie to look down at the spoon she was _still_ holding and blush, embarrassed to have been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him come in. By the casual way he was regarding her, he obviously hadn't been in their bedroom yet.

She smiled widely back up at him. "I don't know," she said slowly, twisting the spoon around and around in her hands. "It's a useful tool against unwanted folk in my kitchen."

"_Unwanted_?" Jason asked, placing one of his surrendered hands over his heart. "You wound me deeply." He turned away from her, probably to head into their bedroom to change, and Jessie stopped him by calling his name in an almost panicked voice. "Yes?" he asked.

He'd been too early. She still hadn't had enough time to come to terms with the development herself. She felt excitement and fear, but an overwhelming sense of insecurity. Without thinking, she crossed the room and threw herself into his arms, knowing that he would catch her. He always did.

"Is something wrong?" Jason asked, all teasing gone from his tone.

Jessie bit her lip again, worried. She cared more for his opinion than anyone else's. "Not wrong, exactly," she said. "Just different." She pressed her hand gently to his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Jason frowned, confusion and worry clouding his eyes as he gazed at her. Nothing appeared to be broken, there was no blood anywhere. Jessie herself looked okay, though perhaps a little pale and edgy. All in all, he couldn't understand the look she gave him, full of pleading for his understanding, his favor.

"For what?" he found himself asking.

Jessie opened her mouth to explain the whole situation, but then stopped. No, she wouldn't apologize. She _wanted_ this. And the more she thought about it, the more Jessie realized that she wanted this latest development almost as much as she wanted Jason. No, she definitely wouldn't apologize. Mind made up, Jessie gave him a wobbly grin and thumped him on the chest with her spoon.

"For brandishing my spoon at you, of course," she said, and even through her nervousness, she managed to smile. "It's a very scary weapon, after all."

"Indeed," Jason agreed humorously.

She gave him another thump with the wood for good measure. "However, maybe it'll teach you to stop sneaking up on people."

Jason ducked his head, pretending shame. "Undoubtedly," he said dryly.

Jessie smiled. "I love you," she said seriously. "Sneaking or not."

For some reason, Jason had the distinct feeling that what Jessie needed most right now was for him to take her in his arms and hold her, returning her sentiments with as much love as she had given them. So he did. "I love you too," he said just as seriously.

"Good, because I cooked again." That teasing grin was back.

Jason winced. "Again?" he asked teasingly. "Why?"

Jessie smacked his arm lightly. "Hey!" she protested, but then her gaze softened. "I know I'm far from the greatest cook in the world, but I wanted to do something special for you tonight. Plus, your mom practically did the whole thing for me over speakerphone. I swear, that woman's amazing!"

Jason hugged her tightly. "Thank God for my mother," he teased, whispering the words against his wife's silky hair.

"Ha!" Jessie snorted. "You're missing the sentiments involved."

"Sorry," Jason whispered. "What's so special tonight?"

His open curiosity, that you-can-tell-me-anything look, nearly made Jessie cave. Darn these mood swings! She really wanted to burst out crying and tell Jason everything, but she couldn't force the words past her throat, which had squeezed itself closed. "You'll find out soon enough," she promised, begging him not to be upset.

"Okay," Jason drew out. "Well then, I'm going to go change. Will I have time to enjoy this no doubt wondrous meal of yours?"

Jessie grimaced at him. "Now you're just teasing me!" She made shooing motions with her hands. "Go. Shoo! Get out of my kitchen before you really get a taste of my spoon!"

His laughter could be heard from down the hall as he disappeared into their bedroom. Jessie whirled back to the stove, trying to busy herself with pulling her pan of homemade lasagna (Jason's favorite) from the warm grates, but her mind refused to focus. She was straining to hear any sign of what Jason was doing. Was he in the bathroom? Had he been to his dresser yet? Had he found it?

The kettle on the top of the stove whistled shrilly and Jessie was forced to pay attention long enough to take it off the stove. She heard something from down the hall, but she couldn't make it out, so she decided to ignore it.

Halfway through cutting the lasagna into pieces, Jessie felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, causing her to gasp and drop the knife into the pan. There was no shouts of outrage, no growls of indignation, but she still couldn't see his face. Was he mad? Disappointed?

"Is this what was bothering you?" Jason's voice was husky, his tone lower than normal, but decidedly not angry.

"Yes," Jessie managed to squeak out.

"You should know by now that I'm not mad about this. I'm ecstatically happy." He pulled her around to face him and held up the small piece of plastic. "I love you both."

He pulled her into a long kiss and Jessie relaxed into it. Her world was right again. He wasn't mad, he was just as happy as she was. She threw her arms around him and he whirled her around gently, the pregnancy test long forgotten on the counter.

* * *

Eight months, one week, and two days later, Elaine Michelle Grey came into the world, wet, red, and with _very_ healthy lungs! As Jason and Jessie hung her birth certificate above her cradle in their home, Jessie smiled slightly and twined her fingers with Jason's.

Sometimes, true love isn't the love at first sight that grips your heart and sends you spiraling into an oblivion that you gladly let overpower you. Sometimes, true love doesn't creep up on you, coming softly so that you barely notice that it's there before it is right in front of you, begging to be recognized.

No, in Jason and Jessie's case, love was none of those things because sometimes, love was just unconscious.

**A/N: It's actually done. For those of you that missed the last author's note, I hope I made you happy by this last chapter. Also, thanks to Sam, I've redone the previous chapter's ending slightly, so if you want, check that out. Thank you all so much for reading, and if you have a chance, please check out my profile and quickly vote on the story you'd like me to do next. For those of you that have already voted, I've added two other plotlines, so please check those out! :D You guys are all amazingly awesome! Thank you so much!!**


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